La Bohème
by Itdoesringabell
Summary: When Georgina leaves with Milo, Dan feels unexpectedly lost. He decides to take back his life where it stops, and what he needs is across the Atlantic, he is sure of it. /AU Post Season 3/
1. Chapter 1

_Hi lovelies ! What I'm doing with this story is actually terrible, because I am changing the whole landsacape of Season 4 Dair, which was already perfect. But, I see an AU potential everywhere throughout the series, and the beginning of season 4 was the most interesting one, to me._

_Besides, I get to write them in Paris for a few chapters, and it's always fun to write about Paris._

_I really hope you enjoy this one._

_This is rated T -for now- I'll tell you if things get heated._

* * *

When Georgina gets in a town car with Milo and Dan watches it driving away from Brooklyn, he doesn't know if he sad or relieved. He realizes then that those two sentiments are pretty similar, because it physically reflects in a kind of emptiness.

He stays on the street, under the burning sun of August, doesn't know quite yet what to do with his body. For two months, he has been a dad, and he had started to accept the fact that he would always be one. Right at that moment, Georgina told him the truth. An unbelievably complicated truth, but that kept Georgina's standards. So Milo wasn't his, fine. So the real father's wife had been arrested and wasn't going to come after them, after all, fine.

Dan didn't tell anybody about the baby, except Nate, and now that Milo was gone, it's as if the three last months never existed. Is he supposed to go back to college in three weeks, start looking for an internship and pretend he spent a summer as normal as all the other students?

He is never going to be able to; it would take him at least a month to reconnect with the old Dan Humphrey and he knows he'll never look at his life the way he used to.

Dan starts walking around the block, thinking. He doesn't even remember what his life was before Georgina showed up. Jenny moved to Hudson, his father was still happily married, and Vanessa was in Haiti.

Vanessa.

He never got to explain to her what happened between him and Serena.

Serena.

Dan remembers now. Right before Georgina showed up, he was going to book a plane ticket to Paris, to go find her and tell her that they should be together, that he still had feelings for her. He can't do it now, because a summer has gone and his friendship with Nate is stronger than ever.

Although…Nate has Chuck's black book. He seems to be fine. He seems to have forgotten about Serena.

Dan sighs loudly, as he is back in front of his building. He's trying to take a decision, the right one. What he wants is to be able to get his life back, the life where he has no worry in the world besides the one of graduating, and figuring out what he feels for someone he was sure he had moved on from.

He climbs the stairs to the loft, sits in front of his computer, and just like three months ago, logs on Air France's website. His fingers are shaking as he types his credit card information, and he takes a deep breath before clicking on the "Purchase ticket" button.

It's done. There is no going back. The flight leaves tonight, at 6:30 pm.

He takes a travelling bag, and throws in it anything he can find that will be useful. Two pairs of jeans, shirts, some clean, some dirty, a toothbrush, a pair of shoes, his computer, a notebook and Victor Hugo's poems collection.

Before he closes his bag, he puts on a pair of shoes, and looks around his room, to see if there is something else he didn't think about. His eyes land on the bedside table, and his heart drops in his stomach.

On a Hemingway novel, there is one of Milo's pacifiers that Georgina probably forgot. Dan moves to take it between his fingers. He is determined to get back his life, but acting like Milo never happened or like he didn't change him would not lead to anything.

So he puts the pacifier in his bag, and zips it shut.

Dan calls a cab, shuts down the power and water supply of the loft, and starts writing two notes. One to Nate, to thank him for being such a good friend and to apologize for being such a bad one himself; the other one to his dad, to explain that he is going to Paris, but not explaining why.

When the taxi arrives, Dan hops in without even looking back at his building. After two detours, and leaving the notes for Vanya and Victor, Dan orders to go to JFK.

He arrives at the airport at 1 pm. He has about four hours to kill before the boarding starts. He doesn't do much, doesn't write, doesn't read, doesn't sleep; just walks around casually, observing people, hands in his pockets. There is probably a surveillance camera following him, he would have found anyone with his behavior suspicious.

He sees couples with babies and children. It doesn't hurt. He gives them a casual nod, with a light smile each time he crosses paths with them, and they answer, as if his gesture is a universal sign of parenthood. It doesn't matter if Milo isn't there anymore; Dan knows what it is to be a parent, how to be a dad. He finds himself hoping that it would happen soon again.

When it's finally time to board, he starts getting nervous. It's a bit useless, because he won't be landing in Paris for eight hours. Still, he knows his move to be bald, not _his _kind of bald. He doesn't care that he liquidated half of his trust fund money with baby expenses and the plane ticket. He'll beat himself up later.

As soon that the plane takes off, Dan falls asleep, dreaming of what Paris looks like.

He is woken up by a stewardess asking him with a frigid, tired smile to straighten up his seat, because they are going to land. Dan looks out the window. The sun is rising, and he can see the city from afar. He doesn't perceive the Eiffel Tower though.

As he passes the customs, there is a Cuban party in his stomach. He is genuinely excited. Not because he is going to see Serena –well there is a little bit of that – but because he is in Europe. In Paris. The home of Picasso, Maupassant, Flaubert, Prévert, Verlaine and Hugo. He will walk in the exact same streets as Edith Piaf and Django Reinhardt did. He will see the monuments, the bridges, the open air markets Monet and Cézanne painted.

He finds quickly a taxi once he is out of the airport and when the driver asks him where to, Dan has no idea where he should go. He could ask for a hotel, on the outskirts of the city. But then he decides that he'll have plenty of time to find a place to stay, and tells the driver to take him to the _Quartier St-Michel_, because he's read somewhere that it is the neighborhood of good literature.

As soon as he sits at the terrace of a little café, there is a smile on his face. He mumbles the very little of French he knows, before the waiter tells him with a laugh that he can speak English. He asks for a black coffee, and when he takes the first sip, he can't repress a slight moan of contentment. Of course French coffee would be delicious.

He is breathing again. He is smiling again. He is in Paris, goddammit! He feels the need to talk to strangers, and tell them how happy he is feeling. But instead, he takes out his cellphone and turns it on. He has three missed calls, and two voicemails. One from his dad and one from Nate, he assumes. Dan decides to ignore them and presses Serena's speed dial button on his phone.

When he hears the second ring, he gets nervous. He thinks she isn't going to answer, but she does, right before the fifth ring.

"Hey, Dan" Serena says "What's up?"

"_Comment allez-vous_?" Dan asks, probably in a terrible accent.

Serena laughs "_Très bien, merci. Que me vaut l'honneur de votre appel ?_"

"Hey, don't get too excited, alright? I only know those three words and _voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir"_

Serena laughs again, but this time he is not sure it's because of him. He can hear someone, a male voice next to her, and she starts giggling.

"Sorry. I asked you to what do I owe your call? We haven't talked at all, since I left New York"

"Well, guess where I am" Dan can't help the malicious smile on his lips.

"Hum…Cece's?" Serena asks absent-mindedly and giggles.

The Dan has the confirmation she isn't alone, and that she isn't with Blair either.

"No" he says, his voice suddenly hoarse "I'm in Paris"

"What?" he faintly hears her say something in French, assumes she put her hand on the receiver, then hears her clearly again "Is it a joke?"

"Nope"

"Oh my God, Dan" she seems speechless "I don't…I didn't…this is such a surprise! A good one, of course, a very good one"

"I'm sure" Dan says, trying not to sound sarcastic.

"Where are you staying?"

"I was thinking about checking into a hotel…"

"Oh no, you have to come stay with Blair and I at Eleanor's. I'll text you the address, come over"

Dan thinks about it. It would be nice not to have to spend more money than he already has. But does he really want to stay there and having Serena parade her French toy boys under his nose? Moreover, does he really want to live under the same roof as Blair Waldorf for two weeks?

"Okay" he finally agrees "Text me the address, I'll be on my way"

"Great! And, um, I'm not there, right now, but I'll call Blair and tell her that you're coming, so there's someone at the house when you arrive"

"Great." That time, he does mean to be sarcastic.

He phone buzzes in his pocket a few minutes after he hangs up with Serena, but he doesn't read the text. His day is not turning good, and the last thing he wants is Blair Waldorf breaking his Parisian dream. So he decides he is going to wait for the night to come, until Serena will probably be back at the house and he can wander meanwhile around the city.

On the subway, he takes a map of Paris and with a pen, circles the places he wants to go to. Since he is not far from the Musée d'Orsay, he decides that's where he wants to go for now.

He knows exactly what piece he wants to see. _Le Champs de Coquelicots_, by Monet. He only saw it once, at MoMA, when it had been temporally displayed for a special exhibit. Dan is excited to see it again, on the other side of the ocean.

He is standing there, in front of it, in the museum. And he doesn't feel alone anymore. He looks at the colors, pastel, comforting. He feels empowered by hope. He is only twenty. Life goes on. He still has plenty of things to live, and he now knows that parenthood is a part of them.

He doesn't know how long he has been standing there, watching, when he decides to move. He wants to discover what the museum has to offer. He'll come back to see the painting before leaving. So he turns to the left, ready to wander around in his own inspired bubble, but he stops right there, because he sees her.

Blair is the last person he expects to meet there, because this place represents something that provides him joy, sanity, and Blair Waldorf is the antithesis of all of that to him. But then he looks more attentively. She seems captivated; she is standing there, watching a painting, not moving a single articulation. He can't see what the painting is, and suddenly, out of simple curiosity, he wants to find out.

X

Blair is just entering the museum when her phone rings.

"What?" she answers.

"You seem sad, B. What's going on?" Serena asks.

"I'm not sad, I am annoyed. Who is it you ditched me for, this time? Pablo? Germain? In fact, I don't even care, I'm doing fine on my own. It's better than listening to you blabbering about Nate and Humphrey."

"Well, if you wanted me to stop talking about it, you would have helped me figure things out"

"No, I would have helped you if I cared. Slight difference. I'm not here to get you to make up your mind. I am here to rest, and enjoy good cuisine"

"Then, think about it this way : it's like choosing between éclairs and napoleons. They're both delicious"

"Except Humphrey is a doughnut" Blair says, while showing her pass to the front guard. "I can't talk right now, S, I am at the museum."

"What? No, Blair you have to go back home"

"Why?"

"…Dan is here. In Paris. I gave him our address"

Blair's hand goes rigid around her phone. Great. Now she would have to witness the two of them dancing around each other, like they've been doing for the past three years.

"Call Daphné and tell her we have a guest coming" she says "I don't want to see Humphrey. He'll ruin Paris"

"Come on, B. He's from Brooklyn. He probably feels so lost here"

"I am hanging up, now. _Au revoir_!"

She turns her phone off and drops it in her Balenciaga bag. As she takes her usual path through the museum, she tries to calm down. Of course Serena would bring over one of her desperate suitors, since anyone on a Vespa or wearing Zadig&Voltaire didn't seem to be enough.

Every time Blair thinks she is starting to get used to how self-centered Serena can be, something comes and hits her, like a vicious slap in the face. Today, two things came. She didn't tell Serena she knows about her going to Columbia in the fall, because she doesn't know what to think of it yet.

She knows that she doesn't want to be with Serena, next year. She wants her own time to shine. She needs a time to shine. The past year, she has been more humiliated than she had ever been in her life. The ridiculously expensive, classy, fashionable Vivier heels she's been wearing all summer doesn't alter how worthless she feels. How broken she feels.

But she decided when arriving in Paris that whatever happened in New York should be put in the past. Chuck Bass doesn't own her, and he doesn't own her emotions. She's been trying to convince herself that he doesn't even deserve it.

Still, even though she spends every night going to restaurants, clubs and drinking too much wine with Serena, she feels more alone than ever. And it's the reason she keeps coming to the museum. All summer, she's been sitting in front of her favorite Manet, reading _Colette_ in the park, hoping she'll lock eyes with someone doing the same thing as her, feeling the same as she is.

When she finally stands in front of the painting, everything in the world feels right again. She stands straight, heightened by her heels, she owns the space surrounding the painting, preventing anyone else from approaching, and break her serene haven.

But at one point she smells something; a cologne. It's spicy, it tickles her nose, and then she hears a voice that she recognizes, but doesn't want to.

"An American who loves Manet? Only Blair Waldorf, surely"

The only muscles of her body moving are those in her eyelids, shutting them down so she could pray that it was just a brief nightmare.

"_Le déjeuner sur l'herbe_ isn't even his best work, you know"

Blair wants to scream. He is ruining Paris. She turns around in a swift motion, and sees him then. His hair is a bit longer than she remembers, and he looks tired, as if he hasn't slept in three months. Still, there is a little smirk on his face, because he knows he got to her.

"I don't care what you think, Humphrey. You are not welcome, here, I don't want to see you, and I don't want to hear you. I want to pretend you don't exist."

Dan holds up in hands in sign of surrender, and takes a few steps backwards.

"Alright" he says "I'm sorry. I'll see you at dinner"

Blair ignores him, turns back to her painting. She can't look at it, now, not in the state she is in. she sighs, trying to calm down, and decides she's going to take a tour of the museum, then come back to Manet right before she leaves.

Humphrey is everywhere. Every painting, every sculpture, every fresco that she finds interesting, he is already there. She wants to prove that he doesn't affect her that much, that she couldn't care less about his presence, so she often goes to stand next to him. And when he leaves the piece, she watches from the corner of her eyes what he is going to see next, sometimes to discover that he stands where she's planning to go next.

It gets to a point where, she doesn't even know how, they start moving together. Actually, she knows how, but is not quite sure. She just could swear that she had seen him lingering in one of the rooms, waiting for her in front of Botticelli's _Venus_, pretending to read a brochure. Because when she started moving again, so did he.

When they get in front of two Degas, Blair can't help emitting a small sound of admiration, and Dan turns to her, kind of surprised, but smiling.

"Really?" he asks "That's what does it for you?"

"What do you mean?"

Dan shrugs "Just that…frilly dresses and tutus are not really my idea of art"

Blair shakes her head "You are such a boy"

She starts walking away to go back to her Manet, and she hears Dan's footsteps behind her. Thinking he is following her, she turns around, ready to tell him off. But she sees that he stopped, and stands in front of a painting. He looks compelled, in sync with the piece. Blair starts walking back towards him. It's Monet's _Poppy Field _that has him so oblivious of the surrounding world, and Blair is surprised.

The fact that Humphrey likes this one does show a side of him that she didn't know about. A much less cynical side.

She gets closer to him, and whispers "You know, this isn't even one of his best works"

His body shakes with a laugh, and he starts walking toward the exit.

"Come on, I'm starving" he says.

Blair watches him go, and looks over at her painting. She hasn't stopped to see it before leaving. She decides to follow him, though. There were Japanese tourists in front of it, anyway.

X

Blair takes him to a bakery in an adjacent street and gets them two mille-feuilles. When she hands it to him, along with an Evian bottle, he turns up his nose.

"They didn't have any bagels, or Dr. Pepper?" he asks.

Blair shoots him an outraged glare "Humphrey. Just when I start thinking there is hope for you"

"Hmm, sorry to disappoint you"

They start walking, eating, and enjoying the day. They must make quite an unusual pair, Dan thinks. She is wearing this beautiful, classy dress, and those heels, and her hair and make-up are just perfect. His shorts are worn out, his Converses too, and a travelling bag is on his shoulder.

As they walk, Dan looks around him, marveling at the finesse of the architecture. It is truly one of the most beautiful things he has ever seen in his life. Blair looks at him discreetly, allowing herself to get tendered by his amazed eyes.

"It always does that, the first time" she says

"What?"

"Paris. This feeling you're getting, like this is where you belong. Paris always does that, the first time. For some people, it never stops"

Dan nods, and looks around more. He can't believe that just yesterday, he was in Brooklyn, packing a baby bag, and now he is in Paris, eating pastries with Blair Waldorf.

"You won't believe what happened to me this summer" he says, doesn't really know why.

"I probably won't care, either" Blair replies.

"The day you left with Serena, Georgina Sparks showed up at the loft. Pregnant"

It's quite unbelievable how easily and detached he is telling the story. But Paris, and its art, and its pastries and delicious coffee are making him feel light. When Blair gets where he is going with the story, she slows down her pace, looking at him with intent.

"Oh my God, Humphrey…do you and Georgina have a baby together?"

"We did" Dan says, and realizes how clumsy it is when he sees the horror on Blair's face "I mean, the baby is fine! It's just that, he wasn't mine, after all."

Blair doesn't really understand why he is telling her that, but the fact that it's Humphrey doesn't make the story less sad. On the contrary, for some reason, she can see him, giving a bottle, and singing lullabies.

"Well that can't be too surprising; it is Georgina Sparks we're talking about"

Dan simply nods in agreement.

"Was it a boy or a girl?" Blair asks.

"A boy. His name is Milo. And he is the most adorable little thing on earth"

Blair wants to laugh, because not only he is saying that of Georgina Sparks' baby, but also because the look of the gaga daddy suits him well.

"I didn't tell anybody, except Nate, because it was just too…weird. And it's a good thing I didn't, because now, I don't have to give anyone any explanations" He turns to her with a smile "What about you? How was your summer? Did a lot of shopping?"

Blair rolls her eyes at his obvious mockery "If you must know, this summer was all about getting a very well deserved rest. That way, when I go back to New York, I'll be revived and ready to rule Columbia"

"You're transferring?" Dan looks at her "I didn't know that."

"Why would you?"

"Well, I am going to miss the daily sigh of disappointment over my outfit"

"So you did notice it! I wasn't sure, since your clothing didn't improve at all."

Dan laughs, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. He puts a fist in front of his mouth to cover his yawn. But the truth is, he is feeling very tired.

"Jetlag?" Blair asks

"Probably, yeah. I guess I'll have to see the _Jardin des Tuileries_ another day"

Blair simply nods, and takes out her cellphone to call a car. They don't talk until it arrives, and on the ride to Eleanor's apartment, Dan has a hard time not to fall asleep. When they arrive, he follows Blair inside, declines the maid's proposition to take his bag while Blair drops hers on the coffee table.

"Come with me" she says.

She leads in through the pre-war design corridors, and Dan feels like he is in a movie. Blair opens a door, and he follows her inside the room. It's spacious, with a bathroom, wooden furniture, a little library, and there is even a little balcony opening on the streets.

"This will be your room" Blair says "Serena's is just across the hall, and mine is the door on her left. Of course, you are under no circumstances to enter my quarters. Dinner is served at 7:30."

"Jesus, when did you turn sixty?" Dan asks, impressed by the strictness of her tone.

She gives him a fake grin "There is also a bathroom" she says "And yes, I am leaving you a cue. And try to do something with your hair, while you're at it. You look like a Muppet"

Then she leaves, closing the door behind her. Dan sighs, letting his body fall on the bed, closing his eyes. He is too tired for a shower. He leans up, to reach for his travelling bag and zips it open. He takes out his poem collection and Milo's pacifier, then puts them both on the nightstand, before kicking his bag away and lying on the bed.

He sleeps practically all night. At one point, he is awoken by the creak of the door opening. He hears someone approaching quietly and putting something on the nightstand. He can smell ham, and cheese. It's tempting, but he is too tired. He wants to open his eyes, to thank Serena, but it takes him too much time, and right when he can manage to lift his eyelids, he barely has the time to distinguish the door closing on brown curls.

X

Serena is acting strange, Blair thinks. They are both sitting at the breakfast table, and she hasn't looked up from her cup of coffee once, and she barely talks. Blair knows that it's because she is nervous about seeing Humphrey, but it's not like she doesn't know the guy is madly in love with her, just waiting for the day she'd dare looking at him again.

But Blair is proven wrong when Dan enters the dining-room, fresh from a shower and well-rested, and Serena's face brightens. She gets up from the table, and goes to take Dan in her arms.

"I am so happy to see you" she says "I missed you"

Blair watches as Dan smiles too, and wraps his arms around Serena.

"I missed you, too. You have no idea how much"

Blair thinks she is going to vomit. Serena goes back to her seat, and Dan takes place next to her.

"Waldorf" he says

Blair simply gives him a forced smile, before sipping on her coffee.

"We should go check out Valérie Mounier's new collection, today" she tells Serena. "She personally sent an invitation"

"Actually, today's not good" Serena says, awkwardly "I have some stuff I need to do. Why don't you take Dan for a tour? You know Paris better than anyone else"

Blair takes a deep breath, her eyes fixed on Serena. Ditching her for some fling is one thing, but dropping her enamored suitor on her responsibility is a whole new level of torture, especially when that suitor happens to be Humphrey. But then, Blair has an idea. She looks at Dan, and he looks back at her, suspiciously.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"I have some errands I need to run. I was planning on cooking a boeuf bourguignon for tonight" Blair says "Therefore I need to go grocery shopping. You Humphreys love to do that kind of things, right?"

"Not particularly" Dan says "It's just that we can't afford to pay people to do it for us"

"It's a yes, then" Blair says, ignoring his sassy response "I'm going to get ready, eat fast!"

She leaves the table, and Dan confused.

"Did I just agree to go shopping with her?" he asks Serena.

Serena laughs, and puts a hand over his on the table "I'm really glad you're here" she says, softly.

"You've got odd ways of showing it" Dan can't help replying.

"I know, I'm sorry. But I need you to do me a favor, you have to keep Blair occupied"

"Serena…I didn't cross the ocean to see, Blair. I came to see you, to talk to you"

"I know that, Dan. And I wanna talk too, but something happened, and I have to take care of it."

Dan snorts, because there is always something up in Serena's life.

"What is it, this time?" he asks.

Serena seems to hesitate "It's…it's awful, but I'm not sure you're the one I should be talking about it with."

"Try me" Dan says, annoyed.

Serena looks at him attentively, then resigns and starts explaining that the French police called Lily, telling her that a dead body bearing Chuck's ID has been found. At first, Dan thinks it's a joke, it can only be a joke. But then, he looks closely at Serena, and he understands that nothing more serious has ever happened in her life.

"So?" he urges her to continue

"So I need to go there, and identify the body. Apparently, it's too beaten up to be recognizable"

"And Blair doesn't know" Dan says

Serena shakes her head "And she can't know, until I am sure. That's why you need to distract her. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure"

"Thank you" Serena kisses him on the cheek "And again, I am really glad that you're here"

She leaves the table to get ready, and Dan just stays there, waiting for Blair. He is not sure how to behave next to her, knowing what he knows. When she comes back to him, she is wearing a summer dress, with a beret and ridiculously high heels. She has a smile on her face, almost devious as she looks at him, but Dan finds her beautiful. Of course, he knows that it's the pity inside of him talking, and that it tells him that no one, not even Blair Waldorf should have someone ripped off from their lives this way.

"Shall we?" she asks

Dan stands up, goes to pick up his wallet and follows her out of the apartment.

Blair tells the driver their destination, in French, and Dan doesn't understand. It makes him nervous not knowing where they're going. He has this feeling that Blair is plotting something. He is right. When they stop, they're not in front of an open air market, or a typical monument. They are standing in front of a hair salon.

"Blair, what are we doing here?" he asks.

"We are getting rid of that mop on top of your head. Don't worry, it's my treat, you probably couldn't afford artists such as André"

"Of course your hair-dresser is called André"

When they enter the salon, a tall, slim man comes to kiss Blair on both cheeks. Blair starts talking to him in French, gesturing toward Dan's head, and Dan doesn't say anything. He figures that if there is one thing Blair Waldorf can be trusted at, is making people look good. Besides, she seems to be having fun, and she might need it before the news about Chuck drops on her.

After he goes through a shampoo involving a dozen of unnecessary hair products, Dan is seated by André in front of a mirror. He can see the reflection of Blair seated behind him on a leather couch, reading a magazine. She's not even reading it, it seems; she just turns the pages quickly, as if everything written gets boring the second she lays eyes on them. She doesn't seem very peaceful.

For some odd reason, he can't help but picturing her reaction to learning about Chuck's death. She is probably going to cry, perhaps scream out her pain and frustration. He looks at her face features, and imagines them cringed in pain, her jaw clench and her eyebrows joined in sadness. She would definitely be the kind to hyperventilate.

Or not. She is Blair Waldorf. She could also be the kind to shut down her pain. To not let anything transpire, to act as if everything is fine, and that the subject doesn't need to be discussed while she is burning inside, screaming inside. And Dan realizes it would certainly look how she is looking right now.

When André is done with him, Dan looks at his reflection for the first time since he was seated in front of the mirror. He does look good. Blair approaches him, a smile on her face and tells something to André. Probably congratulating him on making such wonders, Dan can only imagine.

When they leave the salon, Dan's phone rings. Serena. His hand shakes a bit when he answers.

"Hello"

"It's not Chuck" Serena says, and he can hear her relief.

Dan doesn't show any sign that the conversation he is having is heavy in adrenaline, because he doesn't want Blair to suspect anything.

"Good" he simply says.

"But the fact that his wallet is here means that he is probably in Paris. I need to find him"

"Okay"

"Just, enjoy the rest of the day with Blair. I'll see you tonight"

She hangs up, and Dan tries to quickly come up with something to tell Blair, but she just gets in the waiting town car and urges him to hop on too. On the ride to the market, Dan looks at her. Now that he is sure Chuck is not dead, it's easier to be around her. He isn't the bearer of a fact that would alter her life in the most horrible way.

Or would it? Dan is not even sure of how things ended up with Chuck and Blair.

"How did things end up, with you and Chuck?"

He didn't mean to ask the question, it just sort of fell off his mouth. Blair turns slowly to him, eying him suspiciously.

"You were never really good at minding your own business" is all she says.

The answer doesn't satisfy Dan. When they get to the market, he helps Blair choosing the vegetables, because she is terrible at recognizing those ripe enough to be cooked on the same day. He also carries the bags, following her around, silently sympathizing for Dorota. Blair just wants every vegetable or fruit that she finds has a pretty color. That's why they end up with more ingredients than necessary to make a boeuf bourguignon. Blair tells him this way he'll have things to cook to repay her for hosting him.

They also need wine. So Blair takes them to the best wine merchant around that of course happens to be one of her mother's friends. The merchant, Bernard and his wife Alice don't look as posh as Dan expected. They are just wine fanatics, wine experts that live as simply as they can, in a traditional wooden shop.

It's around two in the afternoon and they haven't had lunch yet, so Alice fixes them a plate of the leftovers of their own lunch. She sits at the table with them, and talks with Blair, while Dan just eats, smile at the two of them from time to time, used to not understanding a damn thing in this country. Twice Blair puts a hand on his arm and says his name to Alice. He wonders what she could be saying about him.

When they have everything they need, they go back to Blair's to start cooking, because boeuf bourguignon takes time, and God forbid to Blair it doesn't taste heavenly.

At first she is around him, watching carefully the way he cuts the carrots, and the way he chops the onions.

"I can cook, Blair" he finally says, annoyed.

Blair takes a step back "So can a lot of people, you don't have to be so aggressive about that"

The fact is, she is impressed. It seems to be so ridiculously easy for him to touch food, like it's all his been doing with his free time. Blair assumes that being Rufus's son, he has a penchant for every activity that involves cooking something. But she thinks it's the first time she's seen a man other than her father cook.

It's kind of sexy. Not as _Humphrey sexy_ but as the masculine entity handling so well a knife, and managing aliments with extreme delicacy. She can understand why Lily went with Brooklyn, in the end.

"What?" Dan's voice snaps her out of her thoughts.

She realizes that she's been looking at his hands to whole time. She tries to regain composure and she says,

"You're making too much noise"

It's easy to cook with him, he knows what he's doing. The recipe book is open on the counter between them, and they move around each other, synchronized, like a perfectly rehearsed choreography.

When they have nothing to do left but wait, Blair takes out a book, and sits at the kitchen table. Dan sees the cover and smile.

"I wish I knew French" he says. "I'm sure Verlaine's poems are well translated, but it is frustrating sometimes to know that you are not reaching the core of it. Besides, it must sound really good."

Blair purses her lips, because he is annoyingly disturbing her time rather than vacating to his own occupation. Still, she feels his pain. She couldn't imagine reading Verlaine in English. So she clears her throat, and starts reading out loud.

"_Je fais souvent ce rêve étrange et pénétrant; d'une femme inconnue, et que j'aime et qui m'aime; et qui n'est jamais, ni tout à fait la meme; ni tout à fait une autre, qui m'aime et me comprend"_

Her voice, her accent and the incomprehensible, yet phonetically delicious words make Dan shiver a bit. He sits at the table with her.

"Which one is it?" he asks

"_Rêve familier"_

"Ha" Dan smiles, and she sees him frowning his eyebrows, as if trying to remember "I often dream a dream, strange and penetrating; of an unknown woman whom I love and loves me; and who is never quite the same one; never quite another, and loves me and understands me"

Blair raises her eyebrows, not hiding how impressed she is.

"There might be hope for you" she says.

"Thanks" Dan laughs before getting up "I'll go to my room. Call me if you need anything"

When he enters his room, the first thing he sees is Milo's pacifier on the nightstand. He takes out his computer, to write. Claire Carlyle is taking too much place in his mind, right now.

Time flies, and at some point, Blair knocks on his door. He knows it's her, because the knock is hesitant, almost resentful. He tells her to come in, and she opens the door, but stays in the hallway.

"Serena called, and said she was going to be late, for dinner" she says.

"Okay"

Dan wonders if she found Chuck. She hasn't called him, and it can't be good news. Then he realizes that he's not sure what he considers the good news should be; finding Chuck, or not.

Blair's eyes set on the nightstand, just like him, and she steps inside the room, going to take the pacifier between her fingers. Dan doesn't tell her to stop. He just looks at her looking down on the little device.

"Is that your son's?" she asks

"It's Milo's, yes" Dan corrects her.

Blair continues to look at it, and sits on his bed.

"It must've been so…scary"

"To think I would be stuck with Georgina Sparks for the rest of my life? Yes, that got the best of me, sometimes"

"No" Blair doesn't laugh with him "Having your life changing so suddenly. Being a parent, responsible for someone" she looks up to him "Did you ever think that you couldn't do it"

Dan doesn't understand the sudden interest in his feelings "I didn't have the choice" he answers, precautious "And retrospectively, learning how to be a parent was way easier than learning it was all an illusion"

Blair looks back down to the pacifier, and Dan can hear her whisper the word "illusion". She puts it back on the nightstand and starts leaving the room.

"Dinner will be ready at 9" she says before closing the door behind her.

X

Dan is ten minutes late, and he assumes Blair is going to give him hell for it. But when he enters the dining room, she is just sitting there, straight, her face turned to the window. Dan clears his throat and she jumps a little.

"Good, you're here" she says "I was hungry"

Dan takes the seat facing hers. Everything is already settled on the table and the only thing left to do is eat. Blair chews on her salad quite absent-mindedly, not paying attention to him. It's like he's not even in the room. When he can't possibly bear the silence anymore, he asks her if she has some music. Blair gets up and goes to a corner of the room, where Dan hadn't noticed to be a phonograph.

She takes a vinyl out, places it carefully on the player and then, the room is filled with a light violin intro.

"Is it Charles Aznavour?" he asks when she is back on her seat. "My mother used to sing some of his songs to me, when I was little"

"So did my father" Blair says.

They don't talk through the first course, but when they start on the meal they prepared together, Blair smiles and congratulates him. Dan does the same, then they are back to being silent. Dan can't wait for Serena to get home. He knew being stuck with Blair would be a bad idea. They have absolutely nothing to tell each other. But the way she's acting doesn't quite look like disinterest. She looks like she is imprisoned in her own dreadful thoughts and Dan, being Dan, can't help asking;

"Blair, are you okay? You seem a little off"

"I am fine, thank you" she says "I've got wine, boeuf bourguignon and Charles Aznavour. What else could I possibly want?"

Dan scratches the back of his neck, already regretting what he's going to say next.

"I know that we're not…friends, but if it's about Chuck, you can talk to me. If you want"

"And what makes you think, exactly, that you are suitable?"

Dan could say that it's because they both hate Chuck; because he betrayed them both. Because he knows how it feels having someone for one moment and thinking your life will be resolved around them, and losing them the next. But he knows that's not what she would need to hear.

"Because I'm here" he says.

Blair looks at him. He is right, whether they are friends or not, he is there. Where is Serena? Where is her mother? She is not fine, she doesn't feel fine, and when she is alone, she feels like she could suffocate in her sorrow.

Dan stands up, holds his hand out to her. She looks at it confusingly, and he sighs, a bit annoyed "Come on, Waldorf, we've dance together before. I like this one, it was my mom's favorite"

Blair takes his hand, puts one on his shoulder, and they start moving slowly. There is still a distance between them, and it makes the movements slightly awkward. To ease the knot in his stomach, Dan asks her what the song is about.

"Bohemia" she says "It's about a lost time in Montmartre, when even though everything wasn't easy, at least it was peaceful. And now a man is just left with broken memories"

Dan is unhinged when Blair closes the distance between them, and rests her forehead in his chest, her eyes closed. She still has one hand in his, and the other on his shoulder, but they stopped moving.

She seems fixed in this position, and at first, Dan doesn't say anything, but when no change occurs after two minutes, he starts to worry.

"Blair, are you okay?"

She sobs, it startles him. Then she shakes her head against his chest.

"I'm really not, Humphrey" she says, voice broken "I've been acting like I'm okay, but I'm not"

Dan is listening, but distracted by the sight of Serena at the entrance of the dining room. With just a glance, Dan asks her not to come closer. Blair didn't hear her coming. Serena just looks at them, worried.

"I can't sleep, I can't…eat" Blair says, and Dan's eyes lower to the top of her head. "They say it's a broken heart but, I hurt in my whole body"

Her hand on his shoulder clenches in a fist, wrinkling his shirt.

"What if I stay like this forever? What if I never get over Chuck?"

Then Dan understands that there is nothing more he can do, so he nods to Serena who almost run to their side. When Dan steps away from Blair, and she sees Serena, she just jumps into her friend's arms, crying.

Dan watches as Serena supports all of Blair's weight on her, and strokes her hair. With a nod, Dan indicates silently that he is going to bed.

"Call me if you need anything" he whispers.

He doesn't go to sleep right away. Blair just gave him so much material for his writing; he can't let a night of sleep break the cycle. She is clearly hurt, and Dan doesn't think she deserves it. But Blair's fate is out of his reach, and the only thing he can do, is start writing the ending Claire Clarlyle deserves.

* * *

_Am I ruining season 4 Dair? Tell me.__  
_

_xo_


	2. Chapter 2

_I am exhausted. For some reason, it's emotionally tiring to write that, and even more to re-read it. Anyway, I hope I didn't let too many mistakes go. _

_Next chapter of Curaçao Dreaming coming this week, I promise. It's just that I had to add one chapter to what was originally planned and...you probably don't care lol._

_I had such a positive feedback about this fic that I really hope the follow up will meet the expectations. Really nervous about knowing what you guys will think of this one._

_But in any case, have a good reading._

* * *

Dan is well aware that Blair has been avoiding him for the past three days, ever since she broke in his arms.

He didn't notice it at first, because it's Blair, and he's Dan, and any day when she is not speaking to him, even though they live under the same roof, just feels like a normal day. But then he realizes that there is something more than not verbally addressing him. She doesn't shoot him annoyed glances, doesn't smirk at his outfit, doesn't roll her eyes when he comes into a room –actually, she just leaves, without a word.

Dan doesn't mind it a lot. The only aspect of this new level in their relationship that really bothers him, is that he feels she shouldn't be ashamed of anything. He doesn't fully comprehend why it is so damn hard for Blair Waldorf to sometimes admit that she is human.

Serena has been busy on her side, looking for Chuck. Dan can see she keeps her distance with Blair, and although he understands it, he is not sure if it is that good of a tactic. It is clear that Blair needs her friend, and that the unexplainable gap creating between them leaves her at loss.

When Blair wakes up in the morning, and finds only Dan sitting at the breakfast table, she just takes a croissant and commands Daphné to bring her tea in bed.

So Dan spends most of his days alone, with his notebook, wandering in the streets of Paris. He sometimes feels lost, everything is written in French, and if he crosses path with tourists, they are never English speakers. However, Dan decides that he likes the French. He likes the way they dress, he likes the way their mouths form the words they say and the guttural yet soft phonetic of their language.

He spends a lot of time, sitting near the _Place de La Bastille_, consciously observing them behind the dark shades of his sunglasses.

One afternoon, after a very long walk in the _Quartier du Marais, _Dan goes back to the Waldorfs, to find Serena sitting at the dining room table, her shoulders tense and her eyes red. She holds a cup of tea between her hands, but she doesn't seem to have taken a sip from it yet.

Dan instantly drops his bag, and goes to squat down in front of her, putting his hands on her knees.

"What's going on?"

Serena sniffs loudly, doesn't seem to care about how it makes her look.

"I can't do this alone, Dan. I know that I told my mom that I could, but I can't. I can't say anything to Blair, and she's mad at me for avoiding her, she's been locked up in her room all day. And now the police officer told me that the man they mistook for Chuck had a gun, that a bullet is missing and that there was blood that doesn't belong to him on Chuck's wallet"

"Oh my God" Dan breathes out.

He takes the cup out of Serena's hand, putting it carefully on the table and wraps his arms around her. Serena clenches at his shoulder and cries in the crook of his neck.

"What if he's dead, Dan? What if he's somewhere, lying on the ground, or in some morgue waiting for someone to find him?"

"You don't know that" Dan says, but he doesn't even manage to find himself convincing, nor reassuring.

"Blair's going to be a wreck. She's going to blame herself, I know it."

"We just have to keep looking. I'll help you."

Serena pulls away to plunge her wet blue eyes into his "Will you?" she asks with hope "I know you can't possibly care, after what he's done to Jenny…"

"I wanted him to face the consequences of his act, and Blair dumping him made it enough. I don't want him dead. I know he matters to Lily, and that he matters to you, so I'll help you. I'm not doing it for him"

Serena nods, putting her hands on either sides of his face. She closes her eyes and Dan lets her pull him forward, pressing their lips into a kiss. He can feel the wetness of her cheeks touch his, and the erratic breathing caused by her sobs comes out of her nostrils and onto his face. It's not the most perfect kiss, but Dan doesn't care. He does feels a bit guilty, that Serena not finding what she was looking for gave him what he's been wanting for the past three days.

The sound of heels clicking on the floor separates them, and they both turn to see Blair, ready to get out. This time she does look at him. She looks at the two of them still holding each other. He can see her purse her lips slightly. Then she starts making her way to the front door.

"Where are you going?" Serena asks

Blair turns around swiftly "Going to visit an Orangutan, because apparently, even primates have more sensibility than my so-called best friend"

She turns back to exit the apartment quickly, slamming the door behind her.

Serena frowns, looking at the door "What?"

"I think I know where she's going" Dan says

"Would you go with her?" Serena asks "I need to lie down, I'm exhausted. But I think it might be good for someone to have an eye on her. She's not been herself lately."

"I'm not sure that I'm suited for the job of 'bringing Blair back'" Dan says "In fact, those three days when she hasn't been talking might have been the absolute best time of my life"

Serena hits him, but smiles "Don't be mean. Come on, it would be good for you too. She can show you wonderful places, very inspiring for artists such as yourself."

Dan sighs "The things I would do for you"

Serena strokes his cheek with the back of her hand, and leans in for another kiss. Dan likes it; it feels natural.

"Go, you're gonna miss her" she says then "Thank you for being here, Dan."

X

Blair can hear footsteps following her down the stairs and she picks up the pace to outrun whoever is coming after her. Unfortunately, her new Louboutins are not made for chase. She gets out the hall and walks to the waiting town car when Dan finally catches her.

"Hey wait" he says.

He presses her elbow gently between his fingers to stop her, and Blair snatches it away.

"Don't you have anywhere else you ought to be? Like…" she tries to come up with something insulting but all she can say is "Serena's bed?"

Dan watches her with lifted highbrows.

"Really? That's all you got?" he laughs, crossing his arms "Waldorf, I think you lost your mojo. Either that, or you're starting to like me"

"What do you want?" Blair asks sharply.

"I thought I would come with you" he shrugs "I've been dying to go to the _Jardin des Plantes_ and visit Nénette."

Blair is surprised that he knows that it is what she is going to be doing, but she doesn't show any sign of it.

"Oh, that's good" Blair exaggerates her fake interest "You can do it on your spare time from being Serena's annual charity case"

"Now, that's better"

"Thank you"

Blair gives him a last sarcastic grin, before getting inside the car. Just as the chauffeur sits behind the wheel, Dan hops in next to Blair on the back seat.

"Humphrey, I swear to God if you don't get out this car this instant, I will…"

"Come on, Blair. I wanna go, you wanna go, and we live together"

"We don't live together, I _let _you live with me, you _get_ to live with me"

"Whatever. I promise, I'll be very quiet, you won't even know I'm there"

The chauffeur understands that something is going on, because he hasn't started the car yet, and he is looking at the two of them through the rearview mirror.

"_Mademoiselle, tout va bien?_"

Blair doesn't answer, but inspects Dan and his lazy, crooked smile very carefully. She knows he is doing this mostly to annoy her, but the fact that he actually knows about Nénette is quite…reviving. Serena doesn't even know what kind of animal an orangutan is.

"_Mademoiselle?_" the chauffeur insists.

"_Au Jardin des Plantes_" she finally says.

She sees Dan's grin widen, and rolls her eyes at him.

So it turns out that visiting Nénette with Humphrey is not that unpleasant. He is, like he promised, very quiet, and it doesn't quite feel right to Blair. She looks at him from time to time, but he is transfigured by whatever he is watching and it's like she is not even there.

Still, he is not completely oblivious of her presence, because he does things like putting a hand on her shoulder when she is about to bump into someone she didn't see, or on her lower back when she is about to get down some stairs. Humphrey is a gentleman, she knows it; she just never thought that he would want to be one with her.

At some point, they are the only ones in a ten miles radius and a robin comes and settles on Dan's shoulder. He stands still, his eyes wide open.

"Oh, would you look at that!" Blair says, looking at the bird. "Must've confused your hair with his nest"

"Get it away"

"Relax, Humphrey. It's just a tiny bird, it's cute"

"And I'm not in a damn Disney movie, get it away"

"Perhaps if you sang…"

"Blair"

Blair sighs, purses her lips in a movement that deepens her dimples, Dan can't help noticing, and waves her hand in front of the bird, until he flies away. They both watch it go, looking up to the turquoise sky.

"It's pretty amazing" Dan says, looking around as they start walking again "I can't believe all the fuss we're doing with Central Park, knowing that this exists"

"Wait until you see _le_ _Jardin des Tuileries_" Blair says "And the _Champs de Mars_"

"Can we see the Eiffel Tower from there?"

Blair nods, and tries not to get tendered by his sparkly eyes when he mentions the monument.

"Will you take me?" he asks

Blair wants to tell him that she'd rather die, or move to Queens; but Humphrey seems genuinely interested in what Paris and she have to offer.

"If I have time, I guess"

X

After they leave the Jardin, Dan proposes they stop at a café near _Place Saint Michel,_ which is roughly half an hour walk away. At first, Blair complains about not taking the car because her shoes might be killing her by the time they get there, but when Dan rolls his eyes and whispers about her being "such a girl", Blair starts walking with a quick pace, making him hop to catch up with her rhythm.

Blair doesn't want to sit to a terrace showing to the place, because the sound of the cars incommodes her, so they get into the little streets, deep in the neighborhood and start looking for the most discreet café they can find.

Right when they find one, they walk in front of a flower stall, behind which an old man kindly smiles at Blair when she stops in front of it.

"Go get us a table, while I pick up some flowers for your room" she dismisses Dan with a condescending wave

"What? I don't want flowers in my room"

"Yes, you do. They are pretty, and colorful, and they smell nice, so yes, you want some in your room."

"I really don't"

"It's my house, Humphrey" she finally snaps at him "Now, table, large cappuccino, go" she points her fingers to the café.

Dan decides that he is not picking up this fight, and does as he is told. He sits at the terrace, orders the drinks when a waiter comes to him, and sits back while looking at Blair choosing the flowers.

She smiles at the old man like she's known him forever, and cares a great deal for him. She doesn't look like the Blair he knows. All they pretty much have in common is Serena, and even she hasn't brought them together that much, in the past three years.

There is a sudden racket behind him, and it tears his eyes away from Blair. There's a broken wooden case, tomatoes rolling on the paved street and a man, kneeling on the floor. There's also a cane next to him, and Dan, the closest, gets up and rushes to his side.

"Here, let me help you" he says, taking the man's arm.

"Humphrey?"

Dan is not ready to see Chuck Bass looking back at him. They stare at each other in awe, and Dan is even more surprised to see him dressed as a waiter.

"Chuck" he finally says "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"I'm here with Serena and…" Dan stops. Blair is only a few steps from them and she is supposed to come and sit with him in a few minutes. He needs to wrap up the conversation "We've been looking for you. Lily and Serena are very worried, we thought you were dead"

"How did you even know where I was?" Chuck crouches down to take the cane on the floor, his eyes never leaving Dan.

"Are you hurt?"

"Humphrey!" Blair's voice freezes both of them "You are going to love this"

She gasps when she sees Chuck. Like she is scared or something. She even drops the flowers. Chuck is looking back at her, he seems to have lost any speech capacity. Then, when Blair finally talks, her voice is broken, shaky.

"I can't believe it. You followed me here?"

"Blair, it's not what you think…"

"Let me just tell you that whatever you have planned to get me back won't work. I've seen the real you and I don't want him anywhere near me. Humphrey, we're going"

She grabs him fiercely by the arm, and drags him along, giving him barely time to catch his bag. Dan struggles a bit, looking back at Chuck who is watching them go. They are a few streets away when Blair finally releases him to take out her cellphone.

"Blair what are you doing?" he asks

"Calling a car. I am not walking home in these shoes"

"No I mean, what are you doing about Chuck?"

"What should I be doing? Whatever he is going to try won't work, he needs to understand that"

Dan sighs, thinks he should just drop it. But it wouldn't be right. Chuck didn't look like his usual self, and there is certainly a story behind his presence in Paris, and a dead stranger carrying his wallet.

"Blair we didn't want to tell you anything, but Chuck was missing until now"

"Well consider him found; Gossip Girl said I was in Paris, where else would he be?"

She holds a finger in the air to stop him from replying while she speaks on the phone.

"Now, let's just pretend we didn't see anything and go home" she says after hanging up.

So Dan finally drops it. She is not going to listen to him, but once he'll fill out Serena on everything, Blair would probably listen to her. The ride back to the apartment is silent, and Blair refuses to look anywhere near his direction.

When they arrive, Daphné hands Blair her mail, while Dan goes straight to Serena's room.

"Hey, how was…whatever you guys did?" she asks when she opens the door.

"We saw Chuck" Dan whispers, because he doesn't want Blair to hear them.

Serena's eyes widen and she drags him inside the room. They both sit on her bed while Dan speaks. When he's done, she grabs her purse and start looking for shoes.

"I have to go find him" she says "Where was it again?"

"In St Michel. But, Serena, I don't think he wants to be found. It didn't look like it anyway."

"Well, I don't care about that, Dan. I am not just going to pretend he's disappeared while perfectly knowing where he is"

She leaves him in her room, and soon enough, Dan can hear the front door banging close. He lets his body fall on her bed. It is not how he imagined Paris would be like. Leave it to Chuck Bass to bring Upper East Side drama across the ocean.

"Humphrey!" Blair's voice rings out in the whole apartment.

Dan groans, but doesn't answer, hoping that anything she wants with him will turn out to be irrelevant. But he can hear her footsteps getting close, and they seem pretty determined.

"Are you sniffing her pillow?" she asks when she finds him.

"What do you want, Blair?" he sits on the edge of the bed.

Blair is holding a little card between her fingers; she is smiling at him maliciously. She doesn't look like someone who just ran into her ex on the other side of the world.

"You are a lucky man, Humphrey."

"Am I really?"

"This is an invitation to the Givenchy Ball tomorrow night, hosted by the Monegasque Royal Family" she agitates the card in front of his nose.

"And this makes me lucky because…"

"I'll be a saint, and let you come with me"

Dan looks at her suspiciously. She has that spark in her eyes, the same one she had when she took him to the hair salon.

"You just see this as an opportunity to buy me some ridiculously expensive tuxedo, don't you?"

"Precisely. I am only doing this for your own good, Humphrey. To show you how acceptable you can look when you're willing to put in an effort. Now, I already took an appointment at Armani, tomorrow at 11:00 am, and then we'll…"

"Blair, stop"

Dan goes to stand up in front of her. She took off her heels, so she has to hold her head a bit back to look him in the eyes.

"Chuck might be in real trouble, you know…"

She slaps her hand against his mouth to keep him from saying anything else. Dan is so shocked that he doesn't do anything about it.

"Now, you listen to me, Humphrey. I forgave him, for something no one else in the world would have. And then, he went behind my back, and did the one thing he _knew_ I wouldn't be able to let go of. And I don't need to remind you of all people how the truth was delivered to me, right?"

She releases his mouth, but Dan is speechless. He just stands there, watching her as she swallows with difficulty her tears. She has infinite sadness in her eyes, a sort of hidden never ending sorrow that is just emerging when she allows it to. She doesn't look like the Blair Waldorf he knows.

"The only trouble Chuck Bass should consider himself in, is that I'm going to be happy without him"

Then, once again, Dan is alone in Serena's room, with nothing to hold onto but his thoughts. Blair is right, he doesn't need to be reminded of Chuck's actions at the beginning of the summer. But if sleeping with Jenny was the thing she couldn't let go of, what was the thing she forgave him for? What had Blair Waldorf so broken inside, that she cried at the mention of it?

X

The next morning, Dan is awoken by Blair slamming his door open, telling him that it's time for breakfast. He thinks about swearing at her, but then he remembers that he lives at her place. He went to sleep pretty late, last night, after Serena showed up at his room to tell him that she had found Chuck, and that he acted like he didn't even know her.

Apparently, he is living with a girl, who doesn't seem to know anything about him; and he makes people call him Henry. Serena told him when she was staying, and confessed to Dan that if Chuck didn't try to contact her before noon, she would go back and tell his girlfriend everything.

Dan doesn't know if it's the best thing. If Chucks wants to start over, who are they to stop him? Besides, is anyone really going to miss Chuck Bass? He keeps his cruel thoughts to himself as he sits with Serena and Blair at the breakfast table.

Blair blabbers ceaselessly about their schedule for the day; Dan chokes on his scrambled eggs when she tells him that she got him an appointment at a spa for a facial.

"Are you crazy? I'm not doing this"

"There's no way you're coming after me with those horribly visible pores"

"Dan's face is fine, Blair" Serena sighs

"You're one to tell" Blair puts a comforting hand over Serena's "You know, it's never too early for Botox"

Serena narrows her eyes at her, and takes back her hand. Blair rolls her eyes and focuses back her attention on Dan.

"Then after that, we have the Armani fitting, and then I was thinking Yves St Laurent for shoes"

"Do I have a say in any of this?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Blair sips from her coffee; he can see the reels of her mind working.

Serena seems relieved that Blair has a whole morning of outdoors activities, and she fakes a headache not to go with them. She walks them to the door, and Dan waits for Blair to be engaged in the stairs when he turns to Serena.

"I know you need me right now, but you'll owe me big time. Two days in a row with her?"

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"Serena" Dan looks at her with intent "I am letting Blair Waldorf taking me to the spa"

"I'm sorry" Serena is obviously having a hard time not to giggle "It just seems like extreme makeover on you is the only thing that can keep her mind off Chuck. But I promise, I'll make it up to you when all of this craziness is over"

"I'm not sure you'll ever be able to do enough to repay me for that"

Serena bites her lip, and holds his head with both of her hands, bringing him forward. Their lips have barely been touching before her tongue darts out to meet his. Dan can't contain a groan, and he is just starting to kiss back when they hear;

"Humphrey, what are you doing? We don't have all day, and with all the dirt that you picked up in Brooklyn, who knows what you have going on over your skin!"

"I am going to kill her" Dan whispers against Serena's lips.

She laughs and pushes him out the door.

The facial turns out to be quite pleasant, although Dan will never admit it out loud. But it feels soft, and fresh and it smells good. Besides, Blair is getting one too, and seeing her face covered with the green mixture makes everything worth it. And when she starts barking insults in French at the beautician for cutting one of her nail too short, it's like watching The Grinch getting a manicure.

Then they go off to choose his shoes –Dan made sure to put on clean, immaculate socks before leaving, but Blair and the salesman both turn up their noses at his worn out Converses.

When they have the shoes, it's time for their appointment at Armani, and Blair sits on a leather couch, a glass of champagne in her hand while Dan stands on a little pedestal, feeling cheap, even in a five thousand dollars suit.

"What are _you_ going to wear?" he asks Blair to distract himself from the hand of the tailor on his thigh.

"I'll pull out something from my closet" Blair shrugs.

She takes another flute of champagne and defies Dan's judging look with her raised eyebrows.

"That's your third glass in half an hour" he points out.

"I've been spending all morning with you; at one point alcohol becomes necessary"

"And why do we have to do all this for me, if you and Serena are just going to just wear the first thing you find?"

"Humphrey, do you have an outfit suitable for a Royal Ball? And, let's just assume, for fun, that you do, did you pack it in your miserable travelling bag with you?"

Dan opens his mouth, closing it shortly afterwards. Blair has a victorious grin on her face.

"That's what I thought" she says.

When the tailor is done, Blair makes Dan put on the shoes. And then he looks at himself in the mirror.

He looks dashing. Like "nothing to envy Nate Archibald" dashing. Whatever Blair did, it worked. Nobody would think that he was the plaid shirt-Bermuda type of guy. She's some kind of a dictator of taste.

He turns to her, to see what she has to say about him. She is watching him, her lips pursed, her arms crossed, and her brows frowned. Then she gets closer to him, and reaches to tighten his bowtie. He gets a whiff of her perfume; it's made with a citrus fruit, he can't tell which one. She smells like summer.

"Now, it's perfect" she says, taping him on the shoulder, obviously satisfied with herself.

X

They decide to go to lunch, afterwards and Dan is happy when they settle for an Italian restaurant. He asks Blair the permission to order for her, and she concedes after much convincing. Dan gives the whole order in Italian, and Blair focuses on a couple with a baby next to them, to ignore that strange thing Humphrey speaking in Italian does to her stomach.

"What did Milo look like?" she asks when the waiter moves away.

Dan seems surprised, then he follows her glare onto the baby.

"He was kind of a fatty" Dan laughs "He liked to eat, I remember the way he used to clench on Georgina's…"

He stops when he sees Blair's horrified look. She lets out a small breath.

"Let's change subject" she says.

Dan nods slowly, and looks down to the tablecloth. Blair isn't sure, but he looks disappointed.

"Unless...if you want to talk about it" she adds.

"What?" Dan looks up at her "Nah, it's fine. I mean, he wasn't mine, right? He was never mine."

"It doesn't mean you can't miss him"

Dan looks at her, and Blair feels uncomfortable. It seems like once a year, ever since they met, they have some kind of meaningful conversation before going back to hate each other.

There was the hallway. There was the talk in the art gallery. There was Dorota's wedding. And now this.

The only difference is that, in all of the previous cases Dan has always been the guidance. And now that the tables are turned, she doesn't know what to do with that.

The waiter arrives with their bottle of wine, and serves Blair some.

"Thank God it's legal here" she says with a nervous laugh.

"How are you doing, with the whole Chuck situation?"

Or not so turned. She knows Humphrey is onto her about this, because he always has to talk about other people's feelings; it gives him material for his mediocre writing.

"I told you: there is nothing to talk, or even to think about. Chuck and I are in the past. For good."

"What happened?" Dan asks, his eyes narrowed at her.

"You know damn well what happened, Humphrey"

"I mean before Jenny. Right before Dorota's wedding, when you guys broke up. What did he do?"

Blair was hoping that he wouldn't bring that up. But leave it to Humphrey to explode any of her attempts to denial. She needs to figure out a way out of this conversation, without giving him the need to dig deeper.

"It's not just what he did, it's also what…"

"What you did, yeah, I remember you saying that" Dan nods "It doesn't tell me what happened"

Blair looks at him and understands that he isn't going to let go. She is dangerously flirting with the idea of telling him. It's Humphrey. His relationship with Chuck cannot possibly get worse. And he'll be happy to curse him with her. She didn't have the opportunity to tell anyone but Nate after it happened. She didn't have the strength to tell anyone. But now that she is able to, Humphrey cannot be her worst choice. Can he?

"Chuck's uncle, Jack, managed to steal his hotel after some mischievous scheme. He told Chuck that he would give his hotel back if I spent one night with him. Chuck chose to give him me."

Dan is frowning, she can see he hasn't understood yet. Then when his eyebrows raise and he looks at her, she just wants to crawl into a hole.

"Blair, you're not serious"

Blair shrugs, and sits up straight when the waiter comes with their plates. She looks down on her with a smile.

"I love cannelloni" she says

"And you forgave him?" Dan asks, incredulous.

She looks back up at him. He is judging her. He is thinking that she is a complete enamored idiot.

"Yes" she says, defiant "I chose to forgive him"

"That's really…brave, Blair. Like you said, I don't think anyone else in the world would have. And then he goes and sleeps with my sister."

Dan shakes his head, and Blair doesn't know what to say. She expected anything from Humphrey but admiration.

"You won't be hearing about Chuck from me, anymore" he says "Now, isn't this wine the best you've ever tasted?"

He starts on his meal, and Blair can't help but break a small appreciative smile. She would have never thought that one day, Humphrey would understand her.

"Wait until you taste the Merlot from my father's cave"

X

Dan has been waiting for the girls to be ready for about half an hour. He can't believe all the warnings Blair gave him earlier about being on time. He should've known better, he had lived with Jenny for seventeen years.

Daphné offered him a cup of tea, but he is so afraid of ruining his tuxedo that he doesn't touch anything, barely breathes. He just would not be able to face Blair's wrath.

He finally hears one door opening, and soon Serena appears, wearing a long white silk dress, a bit too revealing on the cleavage, but it's Serena. She also wears upper gloves that she adjusts right when she enters the living room. Her hair is brought up in an elegant pony tail, and her make-up is barely noticeable. She looks heavenly.

"Should I take your silence as a compliment?" she asks

Dan simply nods. He thinks her blue eyes might be the death of him. He is grateful when Daphné brings Serena a package, and she breaks the eye contact. Then not so grateful because now, he can see Blair entering.

Her dress is bright red, with a ridiculous amount of flounces, but her walk just makes them look like bloody clouds. There are dark lines over her eyelids and her heart-shaped lips are even brighter than her dress. He can see her shoes underneath the front of the dress, and the heels seem dangerously pointy. She looks deadly.

He has a hard time believing that he is going to enter a Royal Ball in Paris with both of them at his arms. He really wishes his seventeen year old self could see him, right now. He would totally high five that kid.

"Are you having a stroke?" Blair asks him.

Dan doesn't have the time to come up with an answer, because Serena breathes an "Oh my God" that doesn't predict anything good. She is looking down at some papers she just received.

"What is it?" Blair asks

Serena seems to hesitate when she looks up to Blair.

"It's Chuck" Serena says "I went to see him today, but he was gone. His landlady told me that he was going to go to London. I thought I'd let him go, that it would give him time to clear his mind. But he just signed The Empire and Bass Industries over to my mother"

Dan looks at Blair, who is now failing to pretend she doesn't care.

"Good for him" she says "Now, shall we go?"

"Blair" Serena says "It's Chuck we're talking about here. He is going to disappear, he is going to go and never come back. Surely you don't want that, do you?"

"You don't know, what I want, Serena; so I am going to tell you. I want to go to this stupid ball with you and Humphrey, perhaps meet the Prince of Monaco, fall in love with him and forget Chuck Bass ever existed."

"Come on, Blair, you can't…"

"What do you think, Humphrey?" Blair turns to Dan.

She tries so hard to look confident that her desperation is piercing through her eyes, and her held tears. Dan looks from her to Serena. Serena doesn't know what he knows, apparently. Serena can't understand what he understands. But he knows that even then, Serena is right.

He walks towards Blair, and takes her gently by the arm to bring her in the corridor. He asks Serena with a look to leave them alone, then gets back on Blair.

"Blair, I know that you're hurting, I know that Chuck hurt you. But I also know that you still care about him, don't you?"

"I don't want to" Blair says

"You can't help it. It's who you are. You don't have to love him, you don't even have to speak to him again. But deep down, you know that you can't be you without him, Blair. And you need to show him that you don't need to wish his misfortune to be happy. You need to show him that it takes more than what he did, to break Blair Waldorf."

Blair's breathing is erratic, she doesn't speak for two whole minutes. Then she moves past Humphrey and he hears her tell Serena;

"Is it from _Gare du Nord _that the Eurostar leaves?"

Dan and Serena follow her outside, and then into the waiting car. As they drive, Dan looks at Paris at night. It would have indeed been a perfect night to attend a ball.

When they arrive, Blair immediately gets out of the car and runs inside the station. Dan and Serena follow her closely, but then Serena stops, to look at a skinny blond girl who also seems to recognize her. The girl turns slightly to watch Blair run inside the building and turns back to Serena with a sigh.

"I knew it was too good to be true" she says "Who is she?"

Serena nods to Dan, to tell him that she can handle it, and it's the only thing Dan needs to know before entering the station as well. He looks everywhere for the brightness of Blair's dress, and he finds her, on the balcony, facing Chuck.

He stops, and stares at them. Chuck looks sad, ashamed, and a lot of things he has never seen him look before. Blair looks awkward, a bit wary, but still somehow confident. She doesn't look like the Blair Waldorf he knows.

He can see her swallow her tears while she talks to Chuck. Dan cannot hear what they are saying, but he has the feeling that she is saying all the right things to convince him to stay, and be Chuck Bass. He then realizes that Blair Waldorf doesn't need Chuck Bass to be Blair Waldorf. It is Chuck Bass that needs Blair Waldorf to be Chuck Bass.

Without her, he was ready to give up everything and become someone else, someone without any story to tell.

Seeing them standing this way, Dan can't help but remember the last time he had seen them like that; the time he broke it. He never told anyone this, but he saw that night, what Chuck was about to do. Dan had already planned on punching him, but when he saw Chuck pull out in front of Blair something that looked like a ring box, he decided to put an end to everything. He knew, he knows Blair would have said yes, and he remembers thinking that even she deserved more than that.

Today, more than ever, he realizes the metaphorical power of his action, and still doesn't regret it for one bit.

When Blair walks away from Chuck and towards him, Dan can see a satisfied smile on her face, but tears in her eyes. She gets inside the car silently, and Dan lets Serena hop in next to her before getting in himself.

The car ride start in an excruciating silence, and just when Dan thinks he is about to break, Serena's fingers weave through his.

When they get to the apartment, Blair whispers a good night and goes to her room. Dan wants to go and see if she is okay, but Serena is looking at him with those big, blue, naïve eyes.

"Thank you, for today" she says "I don't know how you managed to convince her, but thank you, Dan."

"It's normal" Dan says, his throat tight because Serena is walking towards him.

She kisses him the same way she did that morning, and after that, everything happens pretty easily. He undoes her hair, she undoes his bowtie. They go to her room, never breaking the kiss and fall onto her bed, getting rid of their shoes.

He hasn't made love to Serena in over a year and a half, but it's like riding an emotional bike. The sensations remain exactly the same; her moans are familiar, but erotic and the way she clenches on his shoulders just trigger mechanisms that he was sure he had forgotten.

Afterwards, she falls deeply asleep pretty fast. Another thing that hasn't changed. Dan needs to eat. They were supposed to have dinner at the ball.

He carefully gets out of the bed, goes to his room to put some clothes on and makes his way to the kitchen. The light is on, and Blair is standing in her robe, in front of the open fridge. She hears him and smiles when she sees him.

"What are you doing up?" he asks.

"I was hungry. You?"

"Same."

Blair takes out a pack of ice cream from the freezer and two spoons from a cupboard. She hands one to Dan, and they sit together at the kitchen table. Blair laughs when he cringes under the brain freeze he gets from his first mouthful of ice cream.

"What did you tell Chuck to convince him?" Dan asks.

Blair shrugs "The usual stuff we say to an ex we can't let go of, I guess"

Dan nods, he knows way too well what those 'stuff' are. He looks at her, she seems tired.

"It's a shame that we didn't get to the ball" Dan says "You looked stunning"

"It would have felt more like a compliment if you hadn't been inside my best friend for the last hour" Blair replies "Now it just sounds creepy"

Dan closes his eyes in disgust. He should have known better than to compliment her.

"But it is a shame that I didn't get to meet the Prince" she says

"Don't be sad, I'm sure there is no way he would have fallen for you. You're kind of a horrible person"

"Please, Humphrey, I bring some interest into your life. You wouldn't know what to do, if you didn't have me to hate. Besides, horrible or not, I would have made one hell of a Princess. Grace didn't know how to handle her title."

Dan laughs, because she is funny sometimes. He takes the cap of the ice cream box, and leans forward to put it on her head. She instantly reacts.

"Humphrey! What are you doing? You're gonna get ice cream all over my hair!"

"What?" Dan shrugs with a laugh "I just thought you should get to feel like a princess at least one time"

"Is it Paris that enhance your sense of humor that way?" Blair asks, the sarcasm biting.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's you"

She shakes her head, and stands up to put her spoon into the sink.

"I'm going to sleep" she says, turning back to him "And I need it, so if you and Serena could keep it in your pants for the rest of the night."

"I can't promise you anything, but for you, I'll try to keep her hands off me."

She rolls her eyes, but smiles anyway before leaving the kitchen. Dan watches her go. She doesn't look like the Blair Waldorf he knows. But then, did he ever really know her?

* * *

_Sorry for those who can't stand Derena, but you know, she is the reason why Dan is in Paris in the first place. Besides, I have a very specific build up for Dair, you'll see in the next chapter._

_See you then!_

_Love, xo._


	3. Chapter 3

_I want to say that I really enjoyed reading all of your reviews, even though I didn't answer to all of them._

_Also, about Derena, it is present in this chapter, and it is going to be in the next, so if you really can't stand it, try to pass over the passages where it's mentioned; but I can't just ignore her, guys. I can't just throw her out, because she is still pretty important to Dan at that stage. However, I am just going to ask you to trust me on this one, every character gets a deserved development, and the main pairing is still Dair._

_The thing is, I don't want Blair to be the reason why Dan and Serena would have to end things. It was one of the things about season 4 that I liked._

_Anyway, I am thrilled that you guys like it, because I really enjoy writing it! I can't believe it's already the third chapter!_

_Hope you enjoy the reading._

* * *

When their three phones beep simultaneously, they all know it's a Gossip Girl blast. Dan keeps on licking on his ice cream cone while Serena and Blair start typing on their phone.

"What is it?" he asks

Blair puts her phone back in her bag, while Serena smiles at him a bit awkwardly.

"It's Chuck. He went back to New York, and he brought that girl with him"

Dan nods, and turns to watch Blair. She just eats her ice cream, looking at the river. Ever since the unattended ball, it's all they've been doing, the three of them. Wander around Paris all day, eating, laughing, visiting. Then at night, they go back to the apartment, and Dan sneaks into Serena's room when Blair is locked up in hers.

He tries not to think too much of his situation with Serena. They still haven't talked about what happened between them before she left New York, but they don't need words to do what they do. Every day, Dan thinks he has to put an end to this, and sit down to really talk with her. But she comes at him, all blond hair, blue eyes, and legs and Paris has the tendency to magnify her beauty. So every night, he gives in to a few hours of pure, shameless pleasure.

Thank God, Blair is with them during the day. She doesn't want to witness anything that is happening between them, so she often walks between the two of them, pointing at monuments, and century buildings, reciting carefully their history and specificity. Dan finds it endearing, she knows so much, and it's surprisingly really interesting. Not because it's Paris, but because he never thought something coming out of her mouth could be worth his attention.

He gets to know her better, and in some way, know himself better. Dan is no longer reluctant to try new experiences with her, because he learned over the past week that she is sharp, smart in a non-evil way. He never thought he would like eating snails, one day. He only tried because Blair had spent all afternoon cooking it and he didn't want to hurt her feelings. But when he gathered his courage and put the aliment in his mouth, he was granted by an explosion of tasteful sensations.

Serena remains Serena, and just goes along with them, not really interested in anything that isn't shiny and doesn't have a five inch heel. She just walks around with them, not looking at anything in particular, simply enjoying the sun over her face, obviously having no care in the world. Sometimes, when she licks her ice cream –it has become one of their major nutritive item –she looks him in the eyes, promising all sorts of things for the following night. Dan usually doesn't really respond, just stares at her like a pre-pubertal idiot. Once, Blair caught their exchange in the middle of telling some story about Louis XIV, and she grabbed Serena's cone to throw in the Seine.

Today, Blair has finally agreed to take Dan to the _Jardin des Tuileries_, and they made Daphné pack a pick-nick basket. They have fresh baguette, brie, dry sausage, red wine and strawberries. The finest of what France has to offer is being carried by Blair, and Dan can't just wait to add another experience to his Parisian dream.

When they get to the entrance of the Jardin, Dan stops walking. Serena turns to him, inquiry on her face, and Blair has a little smile.

"Yes, Humphrey. It is the Eiffel Tower, and yes it's beautiful."

"Beautiful?" Dan says "Try magnificent"

"Well, we'll find the best spot for you to admire it, so can we move now. I'm hungry"

Dan follows them, his eyes never breaking away from the metallic tower. It's in moment like that, when he just find French people wonderful. He is never going back to New York. They spread their blanket on the grass and sit there. Blair and Serena make sure to give Dan the spot just facing the tower.

"My father is coming to visit, in two days" Blair says.

Serena claps happily "I can't wait. I haven't seen him in forever"

"I asked him to bring back some of his bottles" Blair looks at Dan "You are going to love the Merlot"

Dan nods, still looking at the tower.

"It's incredible" he whispers.

Blair rolls her eyes, and Serena reaches out to pinch him on the cheek. Blair starts pointing several things at him. Over there, there is the _Arc de Triomphe_, like the one they have in New York, and over there it's the _Champs Elysées_, most beautiful avenue in the world, and in your back, you have the _Louvre_, and Blair voices out a mental note to take him to see their collection of the ancient Egypt.

As usual, as soon as they start talking about visiting a museum, Serena drifts off in her own thoughts, and doesn't pay attention. They start eating, and Dan can't remember the last time he felt so happy. When he reaches to cut another slice of cheese, the glass of wine in his hand leans without him noticing and the drink spills on Blair's skirt. She gasps so loudly, taking in so much air that Dan is surprised she isn't fainting afterwards.

"Oh my God, Humphrey! This is a Marc Jacobs unique piece"

She makes sure to hit him hard enough on the arm before taking a napkin and starting to rub the stain.

"This is never going off" she mumbled, rubbing energetically.

"I'm sorry, Blair"

"You bet your ass, you are. This is a disaster! Seriously, who taught you how to eat, Milo?"

Dan rolls his eyes. It's just a skirt, but nothing he is going to say will make things better.

"Who's Milo?" Serena asks.

Dan and Blair both turn to her. Serena seems genuinely confused, and Blair realizes then that Dan never told her about it. At first, she feels guilty, knowing that it isn't a particularly easy subject. Then she looks down at the stain on her outfit, and all guilt wears off. She continues to clean her skirt, but keeps an ear open to listen how Dan is planning to getting out of this.

"He's…Milo is…just some sloppy guy we met at NYU"

Blair looks up and Dan glances at her before looking down to his glass of wine.

"I'm really sorry, Blair" he says.

Blair is still rubbing on her skirt, but her surprise and confusion make the movement mechanical. She is wondering why Dan didn't tell Serena, and now that he has the opportunity, why he doesn't. She knows he carries Milo's pacifier with him, sometimes.

"It's okay" she replies

Serena is looking at the two of them suspiciously, nipping on her baguette. Blair decides to change the subject.

"It's beautiful, out here. I will not let you ruin Paris, Humphrey. We should come back here tonight"

"We should go to a club, tonight" Serena counters, pouring more wine into her glass.

"You would rather be stuck in a heavy dark room, with random strangers hitting on you than spend the night in one of the most beautiful locations of the world?" Blair cringes at the thought.

"No, I would rather have fun, than taking the risk to be mugged by some hobo"

"You haven't even seen the tower light up once"

"It's boring"

"It's romantic"

Serena shrugs, and once again drifts off in the wonderful land that seems to be in her mind. Dan takes the opportunity to glance up at Blair, and mouths a thank you. She simply nods back.

X

Serena eventually convinces them to go to the nightclub. It's some underground select place near the _Arc de Triomphe_ and she has three entrances, because she is Serena Van der Woodsen. Dan doesn't really want to go, because he doesn't have anything to wear, and he never really enjoyed those kind of places unless he was with Nate.

Dan hasn't talked to him since he left New York. He knows Nate left him a voicemail, but he hasn't gathered the courage to hear it. It's probably a rambling full of incomprehension, and disappointment. Dan swore to Nate that nothing was going on between him and Serena, and there he is, on the other side of the world, sleeping in her bed every nights. He wouldn't want to be his own friend.

After his shower, Dan just sits on his bed, overhearing the girls going from one room to another, blabbering about what piece of clothing in their wardrobe would suit best the other. He doesn't understand why they don't just wear their own clothes.

There is a knock on the door, but Dan doesn't answer, because it wouldn't change anything. He doesn't want to see anyone, right now, and if it's Serena, she is just going to walk away. If it's Blair, she'll open the door anyway. Sure enough, he can hear the doorknob click and Blair enters.

Her dress is short, Dan can't help noticing. He is not sure he has ever seen her thighs before, and if he has, for some reason, it is the first time he is aware of _seeing them_. It's not unpleasant.

"Why aren't you dressed?" she asks, her lips pursed in annoyance "Believe me if I say that I'll be happy to leave you behind"

"I don't know what to wear" he answers honestly with a shrug.

Blair rolls her eyes, and steps inside, closing the door behind her. It makes Dan uncomfortable. He is not sure he has ever been alone in a closed room with Blair before. Actually, he knows he has. In a bathroom, senior year. Somehow, he can still picture her fixing her tights. He shakes the memory out of his head.

"Where are your clothes?" she asks him.

Dan nonchalantly points his travelling bag in a corner of the room, and Blair goes to take it. When she leans over to grab it, her dress goes higher on her thighs and over her-

_Okay, that's enough, Humphrey._

She comes back to drop the bag next to him on the bed, and goes through it. Dan simply watches her throw several pieces of clothing on the floor, turning up her nose at his Lincoln Hawk shirt.

"Oh my God, Humphrey. It's not that you don't know what to wear. You literally have nothing to wear!"

Dan can't help laughing when she accidently touches one of his underwear, and drops it like it electrified her. She ignores him and continues to browse, inspect, and pair up his clothes. Under a pair of socks, she finds a collection of Victor Hugo's poems. She takes it, all fashion emergencies forgotten, and flips it open.

"I love Victor Hugo" she says, a little smile on her face "Remind me to take you to the Cathedral before we leave"

"I'd really love that" Dan says, sincerely.

Blair clears her throat, refusing to acknowledge how cute he can be whenever they talk about monuments. She never thought she would be attributing _cute_ to Dan Humphrey.

"Why didn't you tell Serena about Milo?" she asks.

She expects him to avoid the subject, she doesn't even really know why she asked. But Dan just exhales everything he has in his lungs, his traits twisted by the reflection.

"I wouldn't know how to explain it" he answers "And even if I did, I don't think she would fully understand"

The answer unhinges Blair, because he chose to tell her out of nowhere, the day he arrived in Paris. What made her worth knowing, and not Serena?

"I mean, it's Serena" he goes on "She would hear it, then be like, life continues, let's move on. And I'm just not sure I'm ready to"

Blair nods. She knows the feeling.

"But…I just think you should tell her. I mean, if you guys are dating again…"

"We're not…" Dan cuts her in her sentence, only to realize he doesn't know what to say "We're not really…I don't know."

He buries his face in his hands. This morning, everything was so perfect. And now, all he can think about is his past, and his future, rendering him unable to enjoy the present. Blair sees his despair, and doesn't feel like bringing him further down. She hands him a grey long sleeves shirt.

"Wear that with the pants and the shoes we got you for the ball"

"I'm not wearing those pants and those shoes, Blair"

Blair frowns and hits him on the head.

"You owe me, Humphrey, after the red wine incident."

Dan rubs the spot where she hit him.

"Alright, alright"

"And if you can't convince yourself this way, just think that you owe it to fashion" she says, leaving the room.

Dan watches the door close behind her. Of course fashion makes everything worth it.

X

It's loud, it's crowded, and Dan really wants to go home to read, perhaps write. He hasn't written in a while, which is a shame, because with every step he takes in Paris, his imagination is flowing and the possible stories are buzzing. He wants to write about people in love, kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower at night. He wants to write about anything that isn't New York, and that will never be. The Upper East Side doesn't really have anything attractive to him, in a literary aspect. He is starting to know all of its turnarounds, and it's not that interesting. Sometimes, it's even disgusting, and plainly unmoral. He thinks of Georgina, and of Chuck.

He is sitting at the bar, a glass of scotch between his hands. The girls are somewhere, dancing, or laughing with eligible suitors. He spotted briefly Blair, once, she was talking to a guy who was wearing a bowtie. So much for moving on, he thinks.

Serena completely disappeared. Dan didn't expect them to pay attention to him, in the first place. They are in their elements, and he isn't. As usual, he is a simple outsider, invisible to the millionaires' eyes, an observer of a social life he will never reach, and never understand.

He sees Blair approaching in a quick step, and he waves at her, but she doesn't even see him. She seems angry when she walks past him, and soon Serena is walking behind with the same allure, annoyance on her face. He turns around and sees that they are walking toward the exit.

Uh oh. Dan thinks of pretending like he didn't see anything, and let them sort out whatever issues they are having, before going home much later. But he doesn't want to stay here and if Blair is mad at Serena, he could well imagine her locking him out for the night. So he downs his glass, and goes.

It's not very difficult to find them outside, because they are screaming in front of a fountain. Actually Blair is screaming, and Serena just stands there, looking at her like she is outraged by Blair's attitude and that she doesn't have anything to be blamed for; if anything, she is the victim. Classic Serena look.

Dan steps closer to be able to hear them, but not too close so they would notice him.

"You had Pablo, and Germain, and Luc and all the other countless boy toys over the summer, while I was mourning my relationship with Chuck! Now you have Humphrey who crossed a goddamn ocean to come find you, and you couldn't even let me have this one guy?"

"Blair, this is ridiculous, it's not my fault if he thought I was flirting with him"

"Of course he thought that, because you flirt with literally _everyone_! I don't understand why you still feel the need to take everything from me!"

"Oh come on, are we really having this discussion again? And because of some random Italian whose name you don't even remember?"

"What about Columbia? You were afraid of not being able to outshine me from Providence?"

Dan steps closer, because the topic is becoming quite interesting. And frustrating. Serena is going to Columbia?

"B, I thought you would be happy, at least we would be together" Serena says, trying to take her hand in hers.

Blair dodges her touch "It might come as a shock to you, but I don't want to be with you all the time. This isn't high school anymore, I need time to be me, I'm tired of being in someone else's shadow"

"It didn't seem to bother you that much when you were with Chuck"

Dan has barely the time to blink before Blair moves and pushes Serena in the fountain. He runs toward them, taking off his jacket.

"Jesus, Waldorf, what is wrong with you?" he hisses, giving a coughing Serena a helping hand.

Blair looks at him, her face still carrying the signs of anger.

"You don't even know…" she starts speaking.

"Actually, I do. I heard everything and clearly only one person here think that we're still in high school."

Dan puts his jacket around Serena and pushes the wet hair off her face.

"Are you okay?" he asks

Serena nods, but looks at Blair.

"I'm going back to New York" she says, her lips trembling of either anger, or cold.

"Good" Blair answers harshly. "I suppose you two can find your way back to the apartment."

She walks off, not looking back. When she is far enough from them, she takes out her cellphone and dials for a car. Humphrey doesn't even know what she could be feeling, how she could be feeling because he is just like everyone else. Thinking that Serena is an angel, and that she is just some manipulative bitch waiting for the next opportunity to harm what they consider a perfect human being.

When she gets to the house, it's quiet. She figured she would arrive before them. She doesn't undress, doesn't wash off her make-up, just takes off her shoes and fall onto the bed. It must be three in the morning by now, but she isn't even tired. All the anger boiling inside of her keeps her awake until the sky out the window turns clear blue.

She hears them coming in the apartment, and tries not to pay attention to the whispering in the hallway. She hears Serena's door closing and puts her pillow over her head. The last thing she needs is hearing them copulating happily, not giving a damn about her sorrow.

Blair jumps upright when someone knocks on the door. A few seconds later, the door opens and she sees Humphrey passing his head through the opening slowly, looking for her. When he sees her awake, he steps inside the room, and closes the door behind him.

"I don't recall inviting you in" she says, her voice colder than ever.

"So you do know how it works" he replies.

He goes to sit on the edge of her bed, and looks at her.

"Get out, Humphrey" she points at the door.

"I wanna talk. I'm sorry for what I said earlier"

Blair doesn't respond, but her arm falls on the bed numbly. Dan sits closer to her on the bed, resting his forearms on his knees, looking at the carpet.

"I can't imagine how hard the past year has been for you. And even though I used to find your dismay entertaining, I can now acknowledge that not everything that happened to you was entirely fair, nor deserved."

Blair still doesn't answer, but she hopes he won't take her silence as a cue to leave. She wants to listen what he has to say, because his voice sounds comforting, and no one has ever talked to her this way.

"But Blair, you need to move on" he says "Serena is always going to be there, and you can't keep wanting to blame her or fight her like you always do. You need to learn with her being there, and work on her presence not affecting your life in the worst ways"

He looks back at her, and Blair can see it is a sincere advice. Like he rehearsed to find the right words before coming to talk to her.

"I think you should learn how to take your own advice, Humphrey"

He chuckles "You're right. I really should" he gets up from the bed "I convinced Serena not to take the first flight to New York so you two can talk, and sort things out"

"How thoughtful"

"I know you'll thank me later"

Blair raises a dubious eyebrow, and Dan laughs again.

"Alright, perhaps not thank me, but you know I did the right thing"

He walks to the door, and turns back to her while opening it with a little grin.

"I'm gonna have an early breaksfast" he says "Hungry?"

X

Everything is not quite settled between Blair and Serena, but Dan is hoping that Mr. Waldorf's venue will eradicate any leftover of their recent feud. He knows that they both made amends, but it doesn't seem to have been enough for them to go back to normally talking again. Apparently, Serena does really want to go back to New York, she says she misses the city. Once or twice, Dan has wanted to point out that Nate was over there, probably waiting for their return, but he kept his mouth shut, because he didn't want to upset her more than she already was.

However, he knows that at some point, he is going to have to talk to her. Dan doesn't know where they stands, if they even are back together, or if she is just having harmless fun, as Serena always does. Seeing her acting like they don't have anything hanging over their heads or their relationship, he isn't even quite sure that he wants to be with her anymore. Ever since Milo, Dan has a new perspective of what it means to take responsibility for his actions, and he truly cannot see himself with someone who doesn't share the same view. But it's Serena. She just has to smile, or laugh to put a stop to all of his doubts.

Blair is turning into a monster. She keeps checking that everything is perfect around the house for when her father comes. She even asked Dan to go change, which he obviously didn't.

When the doorbell rings, she turns into a little girl. Dan and Serena watch her almost skip to the front door and open it with a large swing of her arm. As soon as Mr. Waldorf appears, she jumps into his arms.

"Daddy!"

Mr. Waldorf laughs and pats her on her back.

"I really missed you, Blair bear"

"Oh, me too"

It makes Dan laugh. She is like a five year old on Christmas Eve. He and Serena stand up, waiting for Blair to release the incomers to properly greet them. Blair walks her father and his partner to the living room with a smile on her face.

"Serena, how are you?" Mr. Waldorf asks, kissing her on the cheek.

"Just a bit of a cold, but overall, I'm fine" Serena answers and Dan sees Blair displaying a dirty look in her direction.

"And, Dan Humphrey right?" Mr. Waldorf turned to him, surprised "The one who slept with the teacher"

Dan shakes loosely his hand, not knowing what to answer. He can see Blair trying to hide a smile. Blair's father sits with them in the living room and listens to Blair talking about her summer. He looks at her, love and pride filling his eyes, and Dan understands why Blair was so eager to see him. He is ready to bet it is not a look she gets often. While she talks, her cheeks are a bit red, and her smile never ending. He can't quite believe that it is the same girl who pushed Serena into a fountain two nights ago.

When her father asks about her love life, Blair gives a nervous laugh and dismisses the subject by asking about him and Roman.

"What about you, Dan?" Mr. Waldorf asks "First time in Paris"

Dan nods "It's very enjoyable. Blair has been a wonderful guide, I must say"

Serena and Blair both turn to him, and he can't blame them. There is something off about a sentence putting together "Blair" and "wonderful" coming out of his mouth.

"I'm sure she has" Mr. Waldorf says, stroking his daughter's hair. "Did she give you the romantic tour by night?"

"Humphrey has not proven to be worthy of it yet, Daddy" Blair objects "It requires a finesse of perception that I doubt can be acquiered in Brooklyn"

Mr. Waldorf asks Dan to call him Harold, to Blair's dismay, but it makes Dan uncomfortable, and he doesn't call him at all, just waits to be talked to. Blair doesn't let her father breathe, makes an infinite list of activities for them. He is only staying for one day, and she doesn't want to miss out on anything.

She purses her lips when Harold invites them all to a wine tasting event, and he reminds her that she was the one who wanted to make Dan taste her favorites; to which she mumbles "Don't remind me" in response. She would rather have her father for herself, because Dan is acting like Harold is going to eat him, and Serena doesn't even try to feign interest in any of the topic of discussion. She just sits there, casually smiles when she ought to and goes back to passively pouting. Blair is afraid that Harold will notice it, and ask her what's wrong. Serena would be too happy to rat her out to her father.

But it turns out that she doesn't even want to. When they get ready to go to the wine tasting, Serena pretends a sudden fatigue, and excuses herself to her room. Blair suspects her of going packing behind her back.

She shrugs the attitude off, and turns to Dan, hoping he would follow Serena's lead. But he just stands there, with his messenger bag already on, and looks at her.

"Ready?" he asks.

Blair bites the inside of her cheek.

"I guess"

X

Blair has never been much of a drinker, and she is perfectly aware that a wine tasting is not exactly the proper place to get hammered. But she ends up downing three glasses of various Bordeaux, all concept of tasting forgotten, because she needs to tamper her anger and disappointment.

Her father is there, but barely. He keeps bumping into old acquaintances and ends up chatting with each of them for fifteen minutes, leaving Blair alone in her corner. The worst part is probably that even Humphrey is ignoring her. They came across one of his favorite writer slash journalist when they arrived, and Dan just had to expose his naked admiration, like a teenage girl in front of Justin Timberlake. At first, Blair tried to be part of the conversation, but when she heard the author call Dan a "twenty first century Gatsby", she decided it was time to seek refuge in the finest of French viticulture.

When she picks up her fourth glass of wine –white this time, gets faster to the brain –Dan approaches, taking a glass from the same tray. He looks so happy, basically glowing that she wants to vomit.

"How many of those have you had, tonight?" he asks, pointing at her glass.

"I'll have as many as it takes to forget that there are people on the earth comparing you to one of the best literary heroes"

She defies him with a glare, while taking a sip, but he just laughs. That's something he's been doing more, lately. Whenever she picks on him, half of the time, he doesn't replies, just laughs, like she is kidding or something. She usually tries to pass with her eyes that whatever she says isn't supposed to be a joke, but it's like he can't even see it.

"I've been thinking…" he starts saying.

"God, have mercy on me" Blair cuts him, looking up.

This time, he does look annoyed and she is satisfied.

"I've been thinking" he continues pointedly "that perhaps Serena was right"

Any mention of Serena being right, while they just fought is enough to trigger Blair's murderous mood, emphasized by the alchohol.

"About what?" she snaps.

"About going back to New York" Dan says, as if it was obvious "I mean, school starts in six days"

Blair browses in her mind for any date precisions. He is right.

"Oh. I hadn't realized" she says, looking inside her glass.

"Me neither. I guess time doesn't stop in Paris. But it sure feels this way"

Blair nods, then regrets. She doesn't want to agree with him.

"I'm sure you'll fit in Columbia" Dan says "And remember, Serena won't outshine you if you don't let her"

"I don't need your pep talk, Humphrey" she rolls her eyes.

"I was just saying" he shrugs.

Dan finishes his glass, and looks at her doing the same, red lips against the crystal. She is staring at her father talking to some old woman, her eyes narrowed, like she is trying to make a decision.

"Wanna get out of here?"

Dan looks around, uncertain he is the one she's addressing to.

"Um, sure. Are you going to give me the romantic night tour?" he asks with a smug smile.

"I figure that if any chance of you being worth associating on a social level is doomed, we might as well try on the cultural level"

She puts down her glass, and Dan looks at the red lip-shaped stain that her lipstick left on it, promising himself to write a similar specificity about Claire, later.

"Let's go" she says.

"Wait"

Dan looks around once again, to check that everyone, included her father is oblivious of their presence. When he is sure, he takes one of the bottles displayed on the table next to them, then puts it into his messenger's bag. Blair stretches her eyes in indignation in shock. She is about to say something, but Dan is already heading out.

X

They start to walk around, at one point, stop at a restaurant so one of the waiters can open their bottle. When Dan hands her the bottle, she declines, turning up her noise and pointing out that drinking in the streets, and out of a bottle is bourgeois. Dan counters by saying that the quicker they finish it, the quicker they get rid of the bottle.

So Blair takes a shy sip, and ten minutes later she still has the bottle in her hands. Dan is glad that he got her to loosen up a bit, but can't help notice that even then, she drinks out of the bottle in the most sophisticated way. They end up dropping it in a bin, somewhere in the _Trocadéro_ neighborhood, along the Seine, and Dan feels that his footsteps are lighter.

He listens to Blair talk about legends and stories that inhabit the path they're taking, and the night, the lights, the wine in his system give them a melancholic dimension.

When they get to the _Champs de Mars_, Blair stops walking, telling her last anecdote of the night.

"There, the tour is over" she says "And we get to end with the sight of your darling tower at night"

Dan looks at the Eiffel Tower facing them, majestic in its dress of lights.

"Thank you" he says.

Voices rise not far from them, and Dan and Blair turn to watch a man, getting down on one knee in front of a woman and their group of friends admiring them, and taking pictures. Dan laughs, and when he turns back to Blair, she has a light smile on her face.

"No way" he says, snapping her out of her observation "A proposal in front of the Eiffel Tower? This is so cliché"

"It's romantic, Humphrey" Blair isn't smiling anymore "Not that you would understand. Paris is called the city of love for a reason"

"But thousands of people have done it before, it wouldn't hurt to be a little more original"

"What would you expect him to do? Have an elephant bear the ring? It's not unoriginal, it's classic." Blair looks back at the couple, as the man swirls the woman around "There is nothing like a kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower by night"

"Is it what you dream of?"

Blair wants to slap the mocking grin off his face. She turns back to face the tower and ignores him.

"Well, I have to say Waldorf, being friends with you is not that bad" Dan tries not to smile to wide, waiting for her reaction.

"I'm sorry, did you just say we were friends? You must've had too much wine"

"I would have never thought suggesting we were, but you let me crash at your place for free, and took me out, and cooked for me. That's what friends do"

Blair seems to be struck with horror. How could she let this happen? Dan laughs out loud, and nudges her.

"Come on, Waldorf. It's not a fatality"

"It is, more because all of the things you listed are things that I've done for _you_! And I never asked anything in return, although you should have offered, that's how a real friendship works"

Dan stares at her in incredulity. She is basically making herself look like Mother Theresa, and him like a freeloader. He shakes his head.

"You know what? You're absolutely right. You deserve a proper thank you"

"I do" Blair nods.

Dan reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's kiss" he says.

Blair cannot hold her eyebrows on their usual level.

"I beg your pardon?"

Dan rolls his eyes. She is acting like he just insulted her. "Let's kiss" he repeats.

"You _did_ have too much wine, Humphrey"

"I just want to give you one of the things you've always wanted. A kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower"

"I don't dream of it with a Dan Humphrey" she objects, saying his name like one would say _diarrhea_.

"You just have to close your eyes, and pretend it's someone else. The prince that you never got to meet, for instance"

Blair opens her mouth to say something, but realizes that she is at loss for words. She hates herself for even considering it. But he does have a point. She doesn't have to acknowledge that it's him. If she ever tells the story, she doesn't even have to say that it was him. But it would tarnish the entire magic of the kiss. She gets back on earth when she feels his thumb grazing the skin over her shoulder, moving the thin strap of her dress.

"We..we need to get back home" she says.

She turns around to walk away, but Dan catches her wrist to turn her back make her face him again.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Waldorf"

He presses their lips together, with a hand on her lower back and the other one on the back of her neck. She barely has time to see him close his eyes before doing the same, putting her hands on his shoulders, giving in. His lips move against her, giving the kiss more content, and he tilts his head so that their noses don't touch, and their mouths get even closer.

She doesn't know how long it lasts, but when he releases her, she feels like she's been hit by a ton of bricks. She just kissed Humphrey. She looks at him, expecting to see him smug to have gotten what he wanted, but he just seems to have lost any capacity of comprehension. He is, however, the first one to talk.

"Let's go home" he says, and Blair simply nods in response.

They walk, because the apartment is not very far, and the only time one of them speak is when Blair picks up her phone, telling her worried father that she is okay.

Dan cannot think straight anymore. He just kissed Blair Waldorf. It was the dumbest fucking idea he's ever had. He is certain he will never stop to feel so _awkward_. Not because of the kiss itself, that part was actually…he can't find the word, but it's not a bad one. But the way Blair reacted, not pushing him away, not saying anything, actually kissing him back.

When they enter the apartment, Blair is eager to lock herself in her room and act like nothing ever happened. But as they pass through the living room, they see Serena sitting on the couch, a book open on her laps. That's when Blair realizes the extent of what has happened. She kissed her best friend's ex-almost-current boyfriend.

"Are you reading?" Dan asks with a laugh.

"Yeah" Serena answers, dropping the book "I wanted to see if I got the appeal. Never did."

Dan laughs and takes off his bag to go sit next to her. As soon as he is on the couch, Serena nestles against him, and Blair doesn't think she's ever felt more ill-at-ease. She mutters something about going to bed, but Serena keeps her.

"Wait, Blair. Come sit with us, we'll watch _Breakfast at Tiffany_. I already put it in the DVD player"

Blair can see Serena is trying to right things between them, and she cannot just declines. So she drops her bag on the coffee table, and sits upright, next to Dan. Serena reaches over him to take Blair's right hand in hers.

"I'm really sorry, B. If I want us to go back to New York, it's not because I don't want to be with you anymore."

"I know" Blair squeezes her hand "But we're going to have to go back eventually, and it better be soon, because your first year of college start in six days"

Serena smiles at her, then leaves her hand to take the remote control and press play. Dan tries to settle comfortably on the couch, leaning back and much toward Serena than Blair. Serena goes back to rest again his side and chest, while Blair sits upright on the couch. Eventually, probably because she is tired, she leans back in a more comfortable position.

The movie is almost over when Dan realizes that she fell asleep. Serena is still fully awake against him, eyes on the screen. Dan can feel without even moving a small portion of the skin on the back of his left hand touching the back of Blair's resting on the couch.

He cannot quite interpret what he is feeling at the moment, but as Serena gets closer to him, it sure feels like trouble.

X

Dan decides to take a commercial flight back to New York, rather than taking the jet with Serena and Blair. He needs to get back to his middle-class standard of living. Serena tries to convince him as much as she can, and when she attempts to enlist Blair's helps to do so, Blair just grimaces and shrugs.

They never talked about the kiss, because there was nothing to talk about. Blair did honor her promise of taking him to the Ancient Egypt collection of the Louvre, and it's their last activity before they have to go pack.

The girls are ready, their jet leaves before Dan's flight. He helps the chauffeur carry their six trunks overall down the stairs. Blair and Serena don't even notice, both typing on their phones. The sun is bright, the flowers are still blooming and Dan can't help the bittersweet feeling that takes him over. He is going to miss Paris.

As the chauffeur put the luggage in the trunk, Blair turns to Dan.

"I arranged for a cab to come take you at 11, do not forget to give Daphné the key back, or my mother will kill me. _Capice_?"

"Sure"

"_Mesdemoiselles, quand vous le souhaitez" _The chauffeur says, before crossing his arms behind his back, waiting.

Serena is still typing on her phone, and Dan wonders who she can be texting. He shakes the thought of Nate off his head.

"So, see you in New York?" Blair says.

Dan frowns "Come on, with you transferring, we won't be seeing each other before months, at Serena's birthday"

"That's true" Blair admits. She looks down to her feet, adds in a little voice "I guess with you in Brooklyn and me in Manhattan, New York is not suitable for our blooming…friendship"

Dan crosses his arms "You finally got around saying the word, that's good"

"I didn't want to admit that like Serena and Nate, and Lily, I had begun to understand the Humphrey appeal"

Dan's head is thrown back under the laughter he gets. He looks back at Blair with a grin.

"Well, we'll always have Paris" he winks at her, then feels a bit stupid, but doesn't show it.

Blair rolls her eyes, but a smile is on her face. Dan is dragged into a hug by Serena.

"Get home safe" she says "And call me as soon as you land"

"I will"

She gives him a light kiss on his lips, and Blair has to look to her feet. Still awkward. The chauffeur opens a door for Serena and Blair. Serena hops in with a last wave, and Blair looks around, sighing, taking a last mental picture of Paris. Her eyes fall back on Dan, who is looking at her. She gives him her hand.

"It's been nice…not being friends with you" she says.

Dan gives her this half-smile of his, and shakes her hand.

"Let's not do it again, sometimes"

* * *

_A penny for your thoughts?_

_Love._

_xo_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi lovelies! Hope you're still there with me for this fic!_

_So Dair is back in New York, and the drama is getting back on. To write this chapter and the following, I had to watch the first few episodes of season four, and it gave me a shitload of feels. I can't believe what this show turned into._

_This chapter is a lot about friendship, although not much about Blerena. But this will make a reapparance soon enough, don't worry if this was something you like._

_I haven't decided yet until which point of season 4 this story is going to go, probably up until Dair starts being a thing in the canon version, I don't know. I just enjoy writing it as it comes._

_I know I ramble too much, I'm sorry. I really hope you'll enjoy this one, and have a good reading :)_

* * *

Being back in New York doesn't feel as good as Blair would have expected. Paris was this neutral place, where she could be Blair Waldorf without the burden of her everyday life, and the scandals it was constantly drown into. She knows Chuck is at The Empire with this blond girl, perfectly happy and now oblivious of how the pain he caused her is lingering. She doesn't want to think of it, really. Her new school year at Columbia is starting, with Serena, and this is a new start. She has the burning envy to make the most of it.

Gossip Girl is down. It annoys Blair, because no one is going to witness her return to the Upper East Side. She might have been the shadow of herself, and Chuck during her time at NYU, but now she is ready to rule again. She wants to be Queen B, because it's the only thing she can do efficiently. Her first step will be getting into the most selective club of Columbia.

She takes great care of choosing her outfit that morning. If the eventuality of not getting into Hamilton's house turns out to be factual –she tries not to think too much about it –she needs to at least walk out of it dignified. It's the only way she can prove that no one puts an approval stamp on Blair Waldorf. It's the contrary.

She and Serena meet on campus. Serena doesn't look very enthusiastic, or even a bit excited; she doesn't look like Serena.

"I haven't talked to Nate yet" Serena says, when Blair asks if she is okay "He's not taking my calls and I know that we are going to run into each other eventually, today"

"Give him time" Blair says. "We have all been friends forever, and it's not like you choosing Humphrey was a total surprise."

She wants to be supportive, and to show Serena that her jealousy issues belong to an old version of herself, but being back on this Nate or Humphrey phase is getting really old.

Serena frowns, clenching her purse on her hip.

"I didn't choose Dan" she says.

Blair stops walking and stares at her blankly.

"What do you mean, you didn't choose Dan?"

Serena shrugs "I didn't. He is the one who showed up in Paris and I mean, how romantic was that? So I just…went along"

"Does Humphrey know that you didn't actually choose him?"

"I never promised anything"

"You slept with him, S. And it's Humphrey we're talking about! He was probably writing his wedding vows in his mind while being inside you!"

Serena cringes "Ugh, can we talk about something else?"

"I ask nothing but. But eventually, you are going to have to make a choice, S"

They discuss of the Fashion Night's Out while walking to the Hamilton House. Blair ignores the twitch in her stomach when Serena casually states that five designers sent her a piece hoping she would wear it. All Blair got was a bracelet from Harry Winston.

When they get inside the Hamilton House, Blair can _smell_ the selectivity. Everything is wooden and classy and she can see herself sitting on the leather chairs, while sipping on a martini and being envied by the rest of the girls.

Someone direct them to the key master, and Blair is surprised to see it's a girl. She's never seen her before, and she doesn't look a lot older than them. Blair is not sure if it's a good sign.

"Can I help you?" The girl asks.

She looks incredibly condescending, even to Blair's standards.

"Hello, I am Blair Waldorf and this is Serena Van der Woodsen" Blair says with a fake pleasant smile "We're here to get our keys"

The girl looks inside the bag.

"Oh this is awkward" she says with an uncompassionate grin on her face "There is only one key left"

Blair's heart falls into her stomach. She should have expected it. What club would want her, when they could have Serena Van der Woodsen. Serena turns to her, and Blair talks before she can.

"It's okay. We'll find a different meeting place like the library or…or…"

"Actually, the key is for you"

Serena and Blair both turn to the girl.

Blair blinks "For me?"

The girl nods, and for once, her smile does seem kind of genuine.

"I'm sorry" she tells Serena as she hands Blair a little box "But this club is members only"

"I'll see myself out, then" Serena says.

She kisses Blair on the cheek after assuring her that everything is fine, and then she leaves. Blair watches her go, before she gets distracted by someone bringing her a cocktail. Everyone else gets back to their chatting. Blair still cannot process that she has something Serena doesn't, something that was based on social evaluation. She has wanted it for so long. But it doesn't feel very good. It actually feels wrong. This day wasn't about outshining Serena, it was about getting a different kind of light. She puts down the glass and is about to leave when she sees Nate coming in.

Nate spots her, and smiles as he makes his way to her.

"Hi Nate" he says in a high pitched voice "I'm back from Paris, it was wonderful, as usual, how was your summer?"

Blair frowns "I don't sound like that"

"Agree to disagree" Nate says, pulling her in an embrace "Good to see you. I see you made the club"

"Of course I did" Blair replies.

Nate looks around nervously "You alone?"

Blair nods "Serena didn't make it"

"Really?" Nate seems confused, and it annoys Blair.

"Really"

"Okay"

Blair sighs "Before you say anything else, we are not allowed to talk about Serena. I cannot be part of that anymore. It's bad enough that I had to be roommate with Humphrey for three weeks."

At the mentions of Humphrey's name, Nate's jaw clenches and Blair curses herself.

"He slept at your place?"

"I felt generous" Blair shrugs "And you can't be mad about it, because you are still roomies with my ex, and Humphrey had his own room"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he didn't spend a lot of nights in it"

"We are not talking about this" Blair says firmly "Right now, you are going to get a drink and I'll pretend to be interested about your summer for ten minutes before telling you about mine"

/

Dan chooses the first day of school to visit Rufus, after he's back from Paris. Because he knows Serena won't be there, and if the conversation with his father gets tense, he can always pretend that he has 'college stuff' to do as an escape.

Rufus welcomes him with waffles, and strawberries and cappuccinos. He doesn't mention right away how Dan left with only a little note, or never called while he was abroad. First Rufus tells him about Jenny and how she's accustoming to her suburban life. That's when Dan realizes that he doesn't even have any idea of how his own sister has been during all this time. He tried to keep briefly track at the beginning of the summer; then Milo arrived and nothing else was really essential anymore.

"So, you mind explaining me what that little fugue was about?" Rufus finally asks.

Dan doesn't look at his dad, still cutting his waffles.

"I wish I could, Dad" he says "But it would involve telling you things I am not really ready to tell. But I will, someday. I promise"

Rufus sips on his cappuccino "You know where to find me"

Dan doesn't feel relieved when he leaves his father. He knows Rufus was never really the problem. Today, Serena is starting school at Columbia, the same college as Nate who has been dodging all of his calls.

Dan makes it his priority, to fix things with Nate. Nate who didn't deserve being treated this way, after all he did for Dan. Nate who pretended that being left with Chuck's little black book is the best thing that could have happened to his summer, while checking his phone every five seconds certainly hoping for a sign from Serena. Nate who could actually afford a thousand trips to Paris, and chose the road of letting Serena make her choice by herself.

Dan feels like an asshole.

He decides that going to school is going to do no good for him. He'll get his schedule another day. Right now all he wants is to go home and work on his writing, taking advantage of the incredible flow that never left him since Paris.

When he gets to his front door, his heart stops. Because Vanessa is there, sitting on the floor. She is wearing bright colors contrasting with the hallway, and the look on her face. When she sees Dan, she stands up and rubs her hands on her skirt. Then she throws her arms in the air, shaking her head.

"What happened?" she asks

Dan feels like the biggest asshole.

He opens the door for them. Vanessa goes straight to the kitchen bar. Dan serves her a glass of water.

"I'm surprised you didn't use the fire escape" he says, then mentally slaps himself.

It was one of the things Vanessa had stopped doing when they started dating.

She sits there in silence for a few minutes, not saying anything, her eyebrows creased in a thoughtful frown. Dan just waits, in silence as well, because he knows her, and he knows she is trying to find the best, most efficient way to put what she is feeling into words. He expects a lot of metaphors that don't make really sense, because Vanessa is a girl of images that no one really sees except her.

Then she starts drinking her water, and when Dan sees that she is going for the full glass, he actually braces himself. She puts down the glass so hard Dan is surprised it doesn't break.

"How could you not have the decency to break up with me before crossing an ocean to stuff Little Miss Sunshine?"

Dan opens his mouth, to say absolutely nothing. Nothing needs to be said, there is no legitimate answer to what she just said. Not even –

"I'm sorry, Vanessa"

She snorts, more in a way that doesn't look like her, but like someone else that Dan doesn't want to think about right now.

"I guess I feel better now that I know you're sorry"

She descends from the high chair and makes her way to the door. Dan stops her.

"Wait, Vanessa, I will explain everything to you" he sighs "You just have to promise not to tell anyone"

Vanessa shakes her head "You're just like them aren't you, now? All the secrets and the complicated life tales. Why would you go after her, again? You and I loved each other"

"It didn't start with Serena, I swear. If you could just listen to me"

Dan takes her hands in his, and she lets him bring her to the couch where they sit, and he starts telling her the story. Vanessa listens through all of it, doesn't show any signs of surprise. It's so disconcerting that Dan wonders if she already knew. Perhaps she talked to Nate.

"Is all of it really true?" she asks, dubious.

Dan stands up and goes to his bag to get the little pacifier from it. He is starting to feel a bit pathetic, carrying it around.

"When Georgina left, I didn't know what to do" he says "I guess I wanted to…I don't know. I was confused. And for some reason, when I feel this way, Serena is the one I go to. She doesn't make me face the harsh facts of life"

"Like I do" Vanessa scoffs "Are you guys back together, then?"

Dan shrugs "I think so"

"What? You're not even sure?"

"We haven't made anything official yet, but I think we're heading that way. I hadn't given it much thought before you asked, to be completely honest"

"Because I make you face the harsh facts of life, I get it"

"I didn't mean it like that"

Vanessa gets off the couch to sit on the floor, legs sprawled in front of her, like she always does when she is creating. It makes Dan laugh.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't love you, anymore" she says, and Dan's laugh dies in his throat "But I still want to be with you. Like we used to be before you decided that a threesome was enough to ignite romantic feelings between us"

"You didn't seem to complain" Dan mumbles

"Don't. That's not fair. You know how I felt about you. Everybody knew how I felt about you."

Dan doesn't answer. Vanessa gets back on the couch.

"I'm starving" she says "Go make me grilled cheese and tell me about Paris. I know you're dying to"

/

There is something off with Eva. Blair can _sense_ it. That entire ingénue halo she has going on is far too suspicious for someone who is getting accustomed so easily in the Upper East Side. Unfortunately, Blair is the only one thinking it. Serena tells her she has trouble to move on, and Blair resents the very idea of it. She doesn't need Chuck Bass to be happy. But somewhere inside her, she doesn't actually want him to be happy, not yet. He needs to understand, and she wants to show him that he hurt her, and that he isn't going to get away with it so easily.

She is walking out of her last class of the day, searching into her scheming, devious mind how to unravel Eva's façade.

Blair stops when she spots a familiar figure. Of course. If Nate and Serena weren't going to help her, she would just have to convert someone else into joining her plan. Should be easy enough, she's done it before, and it was one of her finest takedowns, ever.

"Humphrey!"

Dan turns around when he hears his name. He seems tense, and Blair doesn't know how to feel about the smile he addresses her in spite of it, as she walks to him.

"Hey, Blair. What's up?"

"I should be asking that. You don't go to school here"

"I had lunch with Serena. Did not go smoothly"

Blair restrains to roll her eyes. So this was still of current affairs. She smiles.

"How about we go to my place and watch a movie?" she suggests, hoping it doesn't sound to suspicious "Might help you to get your mind off things"

Dan frowns, but still smiles "I thought we decided Paris was 'friends territory', and that New York was the 'civil' one"

"What can I say? None of my friends appreciates _Mr. Hulot's Holiday_" Blair shrugs.

"I do enjoy myself some Tati" Dan nods.

"See!" Blair is internally gleaming "It'll cheer you up!"

"Although I suppose that watching it with _you_ might defeat that purpose" he says. Blair narrows her eyes at him, and Dan laughs "Although it is pretty funny. Even you couldn't kill that much comedy"

Blair is starting to regret her plan.

"Let's go then"

They try to get a cab, and Dan is amused by the grunt Blair makes each time one passes by without stopping. He puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles, lifting his arm. Blair watches, dumbfounded as a taxi pulls in front of them. Does this thing actually work? Dan wriggles cockily his eyebrows at her as he gets into the cab.

When they get to her house, Blair goes up to get her computer and when she gets back downstairs, Dan is sitting on her couch, texting. He put his bag on the coffee table. Blair cringes a little at how comfortable he looks in her apartment.

"Do you have any popcorn?" he asks when he sees her.

"We are not watching a movie"

Dan frowns, confused "We're not?"

"No" Blair drops the computer on his lap "You are going to help me to get dirt on Chuck's girlfriend"

Dan puts away his phone and sits up on the couch.

"Are you sure it's a good idea? I mean, she was at brunch with Chuck the other day, and she does seem really nice"

"No one is that perfect, Humphrey. You should know"

Dan sighs, and opens her laptop.

"Alright, what do you know about her?"

"The woman is a saint!" Blair sits next to him "She sold a Cartier watch to help out Chuck's valet, she worked as a nurse; she actually _enjoyed_ living in Prague!"

Dan is typing furiously on the laptop, and Blair watches, tries to keep up with combination he seems to come up with on Google. He clicks on a link, and turns the screen to Blair.

"Voilà"

Blair gets closer, amazed by what she is reading.

"O.M.G., Humphrey! You are actually good at this" she chuckles bitterly "Chuck Bass in love with a former prostitute. Typical."

"Not only am I manly and rugged, but I also have mad browsing skills"

Blair shoots him a look.

"Don't look at me like that" Dan stretches "Most women would be ripping their clothes off in presence of this kind of web savvy"

Blair rolls her eyes. She can't believe she is actually becoming friends with such a dork.

"Go home, Humphrey" she says, standing up "Your services are no longer required here"

"Alright, but you might lose me to CSI Williamsburg"

Blair ignores the joke "You still have that Armani suit, right?"

Dan picks up his bag "Yeah, it's somewhere, why?"

Blair bites the inside of her cheek. She can imagine him stuffing the suit in his underwear drawer.

"You are going to be my date for Chuck's charity gala tonight"

Dan clears his throat. He seems awkward.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea. What will we tell Serena?"

"What about Serena?" Blair rolls her eyes "She knows we're friends. And besides, it's not like she is going to take you, being busy trying to show Nate that his girlfriend might be even more devious than me"

"What? She has talked to Nate?"

Blair starts taping her foot. How can't people get the hint that she doesn't want to be involved in the most boring love triangle that ever existed?

"How about we talk about it tonight?"

"You're avoiding the subject. I thought we were friends."

"We are! Which is why I suggest that you go home at once to try to do something with the mop on top of your head, before shaving, getting showered, putting on a suit and meeting me at the Empire so I can warn Chuck about the Pretty Woman adventure he got himself into"

"Why do you need me to do this?"

Blair crosses her arms "Because if Chuck won't believe me, he'll believe you. He doesn't know about the evolution of our relationship, and he probably still assumes that the only thing more painful for you than seeing him happy would be backing me up in one of my schemes, unless your despicable sense of morality tells you the contrary."

Dan doesn't say anything. It seems fair enough. And he cannot think about Serena, right now.

"Alright, I'll pick you up at six" he says, making his way to the elevator.

Blair is unhinged. She thought he would just meet her at The Empire. After all, it isn't _a_ date; he is just escorting her. As a friend. But she looks at him pressing the elevator call button, and turning toward her to smile at her, and she has those flashbacks from Paris. In a few seconds, she sees him at the Jardin des Plantes, at the Italian restaurant, at the Champs de Mars, and putting his hand on her shoulder in front of the Eiffel Tower, right before they…

She shakes lightly her head. She doesn't really want to, but she smiles at him as the elevator chimes open.

"See you at six" she says.

/

Dorota makes Dan wait a few minutes with a glass of ice tea while Blair is finishing getting ready. She gives him a little smirk when she sees the flowers in his hands.

Dan looks up at the top of the staircase when he hears heels clinking on the floor. Blair is wearing a long, blue night, dress. She gets down the stairs slowly, in a feline walk and Dan wonders if she does it on purpose; it feels like a movie.

"You look beautiful" he tells her.

"You don't look so bad yourself" she replies, as she stops, facing him. "Loose the bowtie, though. It's too formal"

Dan's fingers fumble to take the bowtie off, the flowers making it difficult. Blair rolls her eyes and bats his hands away so she can take care of it. Dan stands still, while her hands work easily on untying the knot, and he can smell her perfume. It's not the same fruity one as when they were in Paris. Now it's something a bit spicy, less fleeting, Dan is sure he'll smell of it hours later.

She hands him the tie.

"There you go" her eyes fall on the flowers in his hand "You should throw that away. Serena won't like them, and I saw her this afternoon. She looked really mad, I doubt this will be enough to amend yourself of whatever it is you did to her."

"I didn't do anything" Dan says annoyed "Besides, these are for you"

He presses the flowers against her chest, and Blair shakes a little, surprised as she takes them. Then he turns around to leave.

"Shall we go?"

Blair gives nonchalantly the flowers to Dorota standing behind her.

"Always so gallant, Humphrey" she says sarcastically.

In the car, Dan sits the closest he can to the opposite door, on the back seat. Blair shifts closer to him.

"I'm not going to eat you, Humphrey"

"Allow me to doubt it" he turns nevertheless to her "So what happened between Serena and Nate"

"I cannot talk about that with you! I told Nate I wouldn't with him, and do you really think I'd privilege you over Nate Archibald?"

"The only difference being that Serena clearly chose one of us, and it wasn't him. You not talking about it with Nate is preserving him. But I need to know where I am going with this. Serena is being distant, and cranky and I don't know how to…"

"Oh my God!" Blair almost screams "Nate's new girlfriend, Juliet, tried to break me and Serena up, last week. She hates Serena because Nate is clearly still in love with her, but then we took her down and Nate still chose to be with her"

Dan blinks "Did that really happened under my nose?"

"Understandable. You live in Brooklyn, and you were MIA for the last week, which is by the way, why Serena is so mad at you"

Dan rubs his hand on his face.

"I need to talk to her"

"She'll be there tonight. Are we done?"

Dan rolls his eyes, and sits back, sulking. The rest of the car ride is mostly Blair talking to herself. Dan tries to listen, but doesn't really want to. He wonders at which point he will be forced to point out to Blair that her plan is already doomed, because he's seen Chuck with Eva, and that going through all of this effort just makes her look like the pathetic ex. He knows this is probably only the sign that Blair is still hurting, but he can't be certain of it. It's Blair Waldorf. In Paris, he knew a version of her that was light headed and carefree. The one he knows in New York could behead the devil itself.

When the car stops in front of the empire and Blair is about to get out, Dan holds her back by the shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asks.

Blair pushes his hand away "It's showtime, Humphrey. There's no going back now. You should find Serena, while I get on with my business"

He gives her his arm before they walk in. Several faces turn to them, and about two minutes later, phones start beeping, ringing, and buzzing. They both know it's Gossip Girl commenting on their more than unusual entrance.

"I think we just came out as friends" Dan smiles.

"I didn't think of that when I asked you to escort me. Oh, well. I haven't announced yet which charity case I'm devoted to this year; hopefully people will think it's you"

Dan doesn't answer anything, because he just saw Serena standing at a table, a glass of champagne in her hand and looking, eyebrows frowned, at New York skyline. Blair follows his glare.

"Go" she says "Good luck on your suicide mission"

"Same to you"

He starts walking toward Serena, but finds his way cut by Nate. Dan almost freezes.

"Dude" Nate says, shaking his head "Did you just arrive here _with Blair?_"

Of all of the things he had imagined Nate telling him, this was about the very last one.

"So what, now stealing my girlfriend isn't enough? You have to take my ex?"

"What?" Dan chokes on the air he's breathing "No, Blair and I aren't like that. I mean we're friends, and this is none of your business. And may I just remind you that Serena was _my ex_ when you started dating her?"

Dan cannot quite believe the words leaving his mouth. It's like listening to fifteen-year-old girls fighting.

"You know what, this conversation is ridiculous" he says "Can we sort things out like adults, please?"

"Actually, I'm not really in the mood, Dan. Because things were fine, before you decided to follow Serena to Paris, okay? Up until that moment, Serena had always been the problem, her and her inability to make a goddam choice. I guess I thought that you knew Serena as well as I did, and that you'd always know that as long as we keep making decisions for her, she'll never grow up."

Dan stuffs his hands in his pockets. He wants to believe that everything Nate is saying is based on simple jealousy and bitterness, but he can't quite convince himself. Nate is the one who grew up with Serena, and witnessed all of her evolutions.

Nate moves to walk off, but stops again.

"And by the way, don't think no one can see that this thing you have going on with Blair is only to get closer to Serena again"

"You don't know anything" Dan almost barks.

Which is true. Nate doesn't know about what he and Blair are. No one knows.

This time, Nate does walk off, and Dan can see Serena coming his way. She probably saw them fighting.

"What happened?" she asks

"He just came to tell me how much of an idiot I am"

Serena shakes her head "I need to talk to him. That Juliet girl is not right"

"No, Serena, are you serious?" Dan holds her by the wrist "Why would you want to do that? I thought you wanted to be with me"

"You don't understand, Dan. She tried to hurt me, and Blair. Nate cannot be with someone who would turn him against his friends"

"Why do you care so much about who he is with, now?"

Serena takes back her wrist in a violent swing of her arm.

"I don't know" she says "Why don't you spend another entire week with Vanessa, and figure it out?"

Dan watches her go after Nate. He is done. With all of them. He decides to go home, and catches the sight of Blair talking to Chuck and Eva.

He hesitates, looking back and forth from her to the exit. Then cursing himself and his white knight complex, he walks toward the blue night dress in the crowd.

Chuck and Eva walk away just as Dan gets to Blair. She turns around, and Dan can just see on her face that her plan failed, just like his did.

"He knew" she says "And he didn't care"

Dan shrugs "Maybe it's for the best, then. Let them be"

Blair shakes her head, determination painted all over her face.

"This isn't over yet. Not until I decide so"

"You don't want to do this, Blair. Whatever you do, it'll backfire"

"You don't know anything about me, Humphrey" Blair says, as she pushes him aside.

Dan lets her go. He leaves the empire with the intention of going home, only to realize, once he's out in the streets, that he doesn't really want to. His loft is empty, his life is a mess. The night is falling upon the city, just as the consequences of his acts. He lost a girl, two girls, and a friend over the last year.

Serena doesn't want him to be involved with Vanessa; he doesn't want her to care about Nate. Dan is aware that they can never work, if they don't even want the other to still share a bond with their respective childhood friends.

Dan walks around a bit, observing the New Yorkers going around with their troubles, not even noticing him.

He makes a decision. One that leads him to Blair's building. He knows that's where Serena lives now. The doorman is about to notify the penthouse of his arrival when his phone rings.

"Hello?"

"You were right" Blair's voice is broken, strangled. "Chuck…he…he loved her and I…"

Dan isn't sure if she is crying or not, but he can hear she has trouble breathing.

"Are you alright?"

"I need…I need someone. Would you…"

The rest of her question is empty, but Dan has no trouble filling it.

"Go to Brooklyn" he says "I'll be there shortly"

Blair agrees silently, but Dan knows she does. He hangs up, and sends a text to Vanessa before getting in the elevator.

/

Eva is gone. It's not until Chuck tells her so that Blair realizes that it wasn't what she wanted, not really. All Blair knows is that she is now getting something she didn't want, nevertheless deserves.

_This means war, Blair._

Chuck's voice creeps inside of her, freezing her blood, releasing her tears in the back of the cab. This isn't how things are supposed to go. She feels like she cannot breathe, like she even forgot how to properly be alive.

The cab stops in front of Humphrey's building, and Blair gets out, trying to force the summer night air into her lungs.

"Blair?"

She jumps, turns to the voice that said her name. Vanessa is standing in front of the building, eying her cautiously. Blair is about to ask what she is doing here, before she realizes that it's Brooklyn; she's the one who is out of place.

"Dan asked me to come and let you in"

Blair swallows her tears, too proud to let Vanessa Abram witness her despair.

"He did?"

Vanessa nods "Come on. Follow me"

Blair does, because she doesn't have anything to lose, now. She cringes, however, when she sees Vanessa starting to climb up the fire escape.

"Don't you have a key?" Blair asks.

"Why would I, if I can go this way?"

Blair feels the urge to turn around. This was a mistake. But her body follows Vanessa's lead, and she carefully settles one of her four hundred dollars shoe on a Brooklyn ladder. So this is her life, now.

Vanessa goes up slowly, waiting for her and making sure Blair doesn't slip and open her crane. Then she helps her sneak into Dan's room by the window. The first thing Blair sees is a nursery, in what used to be Jenny's room.

"Is it Milo's room?" she asks, without thinking.

Vanessa frowns "You know about Milo?"

Blair bites her lip briefly, as a punishment for herself. How was she to explain to Vanessa that Humphrey chose to open up to her about something so intimate? She wasn't even sure she understood it herself.

"Humphrey told me in Paris, on a night where we all had been drinking way too much Bordeaux"

"I bet it's the night he decided that you two could be friends"

Blair doesn't answer anything, because Vanessa's suspicions are actually founded. She wonders if she and Humphrey are fooling themselves, by thinking that they can be more than high school acquaintances.

Vanessa takes her to the kitchen and makes her a cup of tea.

"I have to go back to work" she then says "Are you going to be okay, on your own?"

The answer is negative, but Blair knows Vanessa is just asking out of courtesy, and she doesn't want her help anyway.

"I'll be fine"

"Okay"

Vanessa starts walking back to Dan's room, and Blair has an internal fight before she mutters, barely audibly.

"Thank you"

Vanessa turns around awkwardly "Welcome" she answers with the same tone.

Blair waits until she is sure Vanessa is gone to take of her heels, trying not to think of her bare feet on Humphrey's floor. Blair has always been a bit too curious for her own sake, and she walks cautiously to the nursery, pushing the door open.

It's not really a nursery. There is just a crib with a mobile hanging on it, a changing table and a few stuffed animals. Everything else in the room probably still belongs to Jenny. Blair laughs when she sees Cedric sitting in the crib. She takes him between her fingers, and catches a whim of the cotton smell usually associated with babies.

When she hears the front door open, she doesn't move. Dan will see her come out of the room anyway, so there's no pretending she wasn't there.

"Blair?" he calls.

"Yes" she answers, voice dying in fear.

She can hear his footsteps getting closer. He stops at the door, leaning against the frame. He doesn't turn on the light.

"Hey" he simply says.

"I'm sorry" Blair puts down Cedric "It's rude, I shouldn't have…"

"It's fine, Blair" he takes a little breath "How are you doing?"

Blair leans against the crib, looking down to her naked toes.

"Chuck hates me now. I destroyed the only thing that could make him a better person. He said I was jealous, because even I couldn't"

"Are you?" Dan asks

Blair doesn't want to answer. There is no way she is going through that kind of mental self-torture again. Dan leaves the door frame to get closer to her.

"You should apologize" he says "Tell him you're sorry"

"As if it was going to make everything better" she chuckles bitterly "You are so naïve Humphrey."

"At least, it would be a start"

Blair shrugs.

"I'm surprised you're not with Serena" she says, mostly to change the subject.

"I was. I went by your place to tell her it's over. I can't play into her games anymore"

"It's not games, you know" Blair looks up to him "It's just that a part of her will always love Nate, and a part of her will always love you"

"I know that; but I can't keep pretending it doesn't affect me or our relationship"

He is so mature Blair wants to punch him in the face. She figures becoming a father at twenty does that.

"So I guess we're both losers" she says.

"Hey, come on" Dan pulls her close against him.

He holds her head against his chest when she starts crying.

"Thank you for not saying '_I told you so_'" she sobs.

"I should have insisted. I should have stopped you. I'm sorry, Blair"

It's infuriating how nice he is. He is apologizing for not telling her to her face how selfish and puerile she was acting, that day. She stops crying, eventually, but doesn't pull away. She has her hands clenching into his jacket on his back, and she pretends not to smell him, each time she inhales.

"Are you feeling better?" Dan asks, when he hasn't heard her cry for two minutes.

"As much as I hate to admit it, yes" Blair mumbles against his shirt "You're a good hugger"

Dan laughs "Thanks. I see that Humphrey appeal is still going well for you"

Blair does pull away then, to lean back on the crib and hit him on the rib.

"That's for forcing me to climb the fire escape and talk to Abrams" she says.

Dan rubs his side.

"You know, you are going to have to do things my way, as long as you're in Brooklyn"

"Then consider this the last time"

"You know, I happen to have the DVD of Mr. Hulot's Holiday" Dan gives her a little smirk.

Blair sighs, feigning reluctance "Fine. But I require you sitting on the floor"

"Works for me, just keep your paws off my popcorn"

Dan takes her hand in his, and leads her to his room. He makes Blair sit on the bed, and kneels in front of her to get his DVDs box from under it.

"Here you go" he says, handing her the case.

"I wish Paris would have lasted longer"

Dan is still kneeling in front of her, and he looks at her, surprised, and waiting for the rest of her reasoning.

"I mean" Blair starts saying, only to wonder what she actually means "We all had a nice time. You and Serena, Serena and I, and…you and I. New York ruined everything"

Dan sighs "New York is our home. It can't be perfect, but that's where we need to be. Besides, who would want to become blasé at the sight of the Eiffel Tower?"

Dan sees Blair's fingers absent-mindedly move to her lips. He has trouble swallowing. He completely forgot about the kiss, but apparently it's the first thing that came to her mind when he mentioned the tower. Blair seems to realize it too, and her hand drops on the bed, but she is still looking at him.

She despises that she likes the way Humphrey is looking at her right now. All tense, and lost in his mind. She despises that she still remembers his smile, when he saw her at Columbia that afternoon.

Everything is silent and dark for a few minutes, before Blair breaks it in a way Dan can barely handle.

"I wouldn't mind being back in front of it" she whispers.

She despises saying that, too.

She doesn't despise it when Dan leans up, and pulls her by the back of the neck to bring their lips together.

* * *

_Phew. So that happened. What did you think about this one? Are you still with me? Really, don't be scared to be too upfront with me. _

_See you for Square One in a few days -for those of you reading it- and next week for the next chapter of this one._

_xo_


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi guys. I gotta let you know, I am extremely unsatisfied with this chapter. It twists the storyline of season 4 in a way that I wanted, but it's like I couldn't write it. But I think that this one is just "bleh" and I don't know if it's a general mood that I'm in at the moment or if it's really the chapter. Anyway, the next one should be better, I vow it._

_Hope you'll enjoy it at least a little._

* * *

There is another kiss after. They don't talk in between; Dan just gets up from the floor to go sit next to her on the bed, and presses her shoulder between his fingers before kissing her again. Blair is getting too quickly used to his lips on hers, it's probably the reason why half a minute later, she tentatively opens her mouth, clearly inviting him to another level.

That's when Dan pulls away. He looks at her, and she looks back, and they are still silent. But Blair can sense he is about to say something noble, and irritating, something about how they shouldn't, how this isn't who he is. So she beats him to it.

"You broke up with my best friend an hour ago" she says.

Dan frowns "And you're still mourning your relationship with Chuck"

Blair purses her lips. He is right.

"So I guess there's no reason for either of us to feel guilty" she says defiantly, trying to erase any kind of _hope_ in her tone.

Dan's lips are back on hers as soon as she finishes the sentence. This time, he takes the lead by pressing his tongue between her lips, parting them. It's only when their tongues touch that Blair becomes fully aware of what she is doing. Kissing Dan Humphrey in Brooklyn was definitely not part of her sophomore year plan. But neither was becoming roommate with Serena, or getting into a war with Chuck.

Of all the unplanned things that happened to her, since she came back to New York, kissing Dan Humphrey in Brooklyn is certainly the most unexpected; but somehow, the nicest.

He pushes her slightly backward, so she can lay on his bed. Blair lets him, discovering a part of him that she doesn't know. But when she sees him get rid of his jacket, she rests on her elbows and puts a hand in the air.

"What are you doing?" she asks sharply.

"Relax" Dan says, throwing the jacket to the side "It's hot, I'm just getting comfortable"

"I didn't allow it"

"It's _my_ place, Blair. I can do whatever I want"

They stay still for a moment, him waiting for a sign from her; her waiting for him to make the move. The anticipation becomes heavy for her to handle, and she bites her lower lip. That's the sign Dan is waiting for, and he dives in, sliding his hands on her waist and kissing her again, mouth open.

Blair curses herself when she lets out a slight moan, and she feels him grin against her.

"Waldorf" he says against her lips "I think I might like kissing you"

"Who wouldn't?" she answers in a whisper, before tugging one of his lips between her teeth.

Dan groans and slides one of his legs between her knees.

"We should do it more often"

"That, I can allow"

He laughs against her mouth, and Blair wriggles slightly her hips in a pointless attempt to stop the butterflies in her stomach. When Dan pulls away, Blair puts a hand on her eyes, trying to regain the breath stolen away by the kisses, processing her incredulity. She was just making out with Humphrey. One of Dan's hand remains on her hip while the other pushes her hand away from her face.

He forces her to look him in the eyes.

"I'm serious, Blair" he says in a low voice, as if it would make her take him more seriously "This feels strangely nice"

"It sure releases tension"

"What do we do, then?"

Her hand is still in his, and Blair links her fingers with his.

"I don't know. Any suggestions?"

Dan sighs, kisses her again before resting his forehead against hers.

"We're clearly not ready to think fully about it" he says "So how about we just…keep doing this until we clean up the mess in our lives?"

Blair thinks of Chuck, and of Eva, and Serena. He is right, her life is a mess, and whatever is happening between them will only make it worst if people know about it.

"Okay" she says "But we need to install ground rules"

"Sure" Dan nods "This only happens here, we can't risk Serena barging in on us"

Blair groans "You're going to make me come all the way to Brooklyn to make out with you?"

Dan kisses her again, sliding his tongue against hers. Blair breathes through her nose, feeling flushed.

"Alright, Brooklyn only" she nods.

"And no…no sex. Just kisses"

"Oh God, Humphrey, do not talk about us having sex. I haven't eaten anything in six hours, and it still makes me want to puke"

Dan pulls her against him, and rolls on his back, bringing her on top of him. Then he pulls her by the back of her neck, and Blair leans into the kiss. While their tongues move together, Dan puts a hand on her hips to slightly push their lower bodies together, and Blair can _feel_ him. She pulls away in a gasp, and Dan looks at her, a smug grin on his face.

"You were saying?"

"Okay, no sex" Blair says. She traces the outline of his jaw with the tip of her fingers, liking the rug feeling of his stubble. "But it doesn't stop us from doing…other things, right?"

"Depends" Dan presses his lips against her palm "What other things?"

Blair shrugs "I don't know, like…" she tentatively pushes her hips up, then down onto him.

Dan reacts by closing his eyes and pressing her hips between his fingers, letting out a stiff breath. Blair's goes short when she sees him lick his lips.

"I suppose that kind of thing would be tolerable" he says

"It really would" Blair moves again, getting tinkles from his moans.

She leans down to kiss him again. It's hot, and soft, and wet, and she presses her palm against his chest, feeling his heart beating.

/

Dan should have known that it would blow up in their faces sooner or later. Actually, he kind of knew. He was just probably hoping for later rather than sooner.

The fact is, they did install ground rules, but not enough of them. He should have made it specific that Blair wasn't allowed to brush past him at social events, giving him _that look_; the look that said "_I know your dirty secret_", when _she was_ this very secret; the look that made him feel like she liked being his secret. He should have made it specific that she wasn't allowed to wear that blood red lipstick on her mouth.

He should have made so very specific that she wasn't allowed to drop by the loft without calling first, and coming in ranting about how Chuck was making her life miserable and how she needed him to, quote '_dry-hump the living hell out of her'_, while Vanessa might be there.

Because, on that specific night, she was there.

Which is why Dan is standing, tetanized, with Vanessa on one side, her mouth open in shock and certainly disgust, and Blair on the other side, clearly looking for some unnecessary cover lie. But Vanessa is the first one to talk.

"What did she…what…are you…?"

Dan looks at her, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do. Things were just starting to be normal again between them and Dan doesn't think that their fragile friendship can survive this. He knows it won't.

"Vanessa…"

"You won't tell anyone"

Both Vanessa and Dan turn to Blair. She is looking at Vanessa with her eyes narrowed, full-on scheming mode.

"You won't tell anyone, because I still have a lot of things on you that you would rather keep silent"

Vanessa snorts "Do you really think I'm scared of you, you manipulative little…"

"Okay, calm down" Dan puts both of his hands in the air "We…can talk without getting heated, alright?"

Vanessa shakes her head, and goes to take her things.

"I'm not talking with _her_, are you crazy?" she says, walking to the door. "See you later, Dan"

Dan's heart pace slows a bit. She's not mad at him.

"And by later" Vanessa adds "I mean tomorrow, at the coffee shop so you can tell me everything about…" she points at him and Blair "this thing before I drag you to a mental institution"

She closes the door behind her, and Dan can breathe again. He still has twenty four hours to come up with something that would make his situation look quite reasonable. He hears Blair clearing her throat behind him. Dan turns around to find her sliding her jacket off her arms, carefully putting it on a chair.

She goes to take his hands in hers, and drags him toward the couch.

"I thought she'd never leave" Blair whispers with a smile, as she pushes him down on the couch.

She's done this so many times for the past two weeks, he's not even surprised anymore. It's like her signal that things are getting started. And usually, it puts Dan in a hazy state, but tonight, the adrenaline rush upon being busted is still running through is veins.

"Blair, we need to talk"

Blair slightly hikes up her skirt to straddle him "We can talk after"

She leans down to kiss him, and Dan summons all of his will power to push her off.

"No, now"

Blair sighs, and slides off him onto the couch.

"What?"

"Do you realize what just happened there?"

"I made a mistake, Dan" Blair rolled her eyes "She's not upset with you, let's move on and pretend it never happened."

"Blair, you _threatened_ my friend. Vanessa has forgiven my for being the biggest asshole of the universe to her, and I can't just have the girl I'm occasionally making out with go after her like that"

"First, she knows me, she knows how I roll. And you saw for yourself, she wasn't even surprised by my reaction. Second, what we do is a bit more elaborated than 'making out', Humphrey, or did not you hear what I needed you to do when I came in?"

Dan blushes at the memories, of her words, and of the moments they shared for the past week.

"We're not debating about what is it we do, and what is it we don't" he says "The bottom line is that we would both die of shame if anyone, other than Vanessa right now, found out"

Blair stiffens at his words. _Dying of shame_? Overreacting much, Humphrey? Then it strikes her that perhaps it is exactly how she should be reacting. Yet, she isn't. Why isn't she?

Blair dismisses the thought, and goes back on top of him. Dan makes an annoyed noise with his throat, but doesn't push her away. He puts his hands on her hips.

"Blair, I really like spending time with you, okay? But whatever is happening between us will stop if you become a threat to my relationship with people close to me."

Blair looks at him. He seems sincere, and determined. Blair understands. She isn't worth it. He will put Vanessa over her, like everyone has always put Serena over her.

"So, no more scheming against me or my family and friends?" Dan asks.

Blair feels herself nod, slightly unsure of what she just promised. She forgets when Dan presses his lips against her neck, and slides his hands on her thighs.

They make out for a moment on the couch, then when things get way to heated, Dan pushes her away and goes to make them dinner. They eat his pasta, debating Godard versus Chabrol, and Blair laughs so much at his Isabelle Huppert's impression that her stomach hurts slightly afterward.

After Dan puts the plates in the sink, he lets Blair take him by the hand and lead him to his bedroom. She pushes him on the bed and as soon as she gets above him, Dan shifts them around, lying between her thighs and kissing her until he's breathless.

About an hour later, after lots of kissing and friction, Blair rolls on her side and falls asleep next to him, her hand pressing his tightly on her hip. It's the third time she stays over. Dan wonders what she tells Serena, when she gets home in the morning.

He nestles closer to her, and presses a last peck on her shoulder before closing his eyes too. Something feels heavy in his stomach. It's like a mix of fear and apprehension, telling him something he's known for a while now. He is getting attached. And it feels dangerous.

/

This war with Chuck is getting ridiculous, and Blair is getting tired of it. But she won't pull the white flag, because he's the one who started it, from the moment where he took Jenny Humphrey to his bed.

How he managed to steal her academic spot, she doesn't know, but he isn't getting away with it. For a few days, everything is a never ending game, leaving her no time to rest, no time to think. Serena and Dorota think she is going crazy. Nate repeats it to her every two hours.

But Blair knows she is far from crazy, because she has a system. First, she plots. Then she goes to Brooklyn and stays with Dan while her plan unfolds on Chuck. When Humphrey is breathing hard against her neck, she pictures Chuck's face painting full on anger, and then she starts seeing stars.

One night, when it's really chilly and Dan just opened a bottle of wine, he asks her:

"What has you smiling like that?"

"Nothing. Just waiting to hear about how me kicking Chuck's ass, once again, is finally going to make him crawl back into his hole for good"

Dan laughs lightly, handing her a glass "Aren't you getting sick of all this games?"

"Never" Blair lies, looking at him with intent and sipping on the wine.

Dan tries not to blush "I thought we agreed that this look wasn't fair game"

Blair shrugs, pouting her lips innocently "Sorry"

"How's Serena doing?"

Blair frowns, sitting on a high chair by the kitchen bar "Why do _you_ care?"

Dan sighs "Open Gossip Girl"

So she does. The last blast about Serena is about her having STDs. Blair blinks at the screen several times, and looks up at Dan.

"Did you…?"

"No!" Dan is quick to answer "It's probably just a rumor, which is why I'm asking how she is feeling about this"

Blair looks down to her drink. She and Serena haven't talked that much lately. They've both been too busy with school; and yes, what Blair is most of the time doing with her ex-boyfriend tends to block the communication. She feels awful.

Dan sees her face, and goes to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's getting hard on me too" he says "Vanessa told me that as long as we kept…she would only meet me for a fifteen minutes coffee break at NYU. She didn't even want me to explain"

"Please, the less you see her, the better"

Dan sighs. He doesn't want to fight with Blair about Vanessa. They are both basically the only friends he has left. So he puts his glass aside, and tilts his head to kiss her on the neck, mouth open. Blair instantly closes her eyes.

"Humphrey…" she breathes, and it makes Dan bite her, getting a moan from her.

Her phone rings just as she weaves her fingers through his hair. She fumbles through her purse to find it, then picks up, pressing Dan's head against her neck with the other hand.

"Blair Waldorf speaking"

"Blair, where are you right now?" Nate's voice is rushed in the phone.

Dan hears it, and pulls away. Blair takes a few seconds to regain composure.

"I won't tell you that, but you can tell me why you want to know"

"I need you. The blast about Serena…I think Juliet may be behind it"

Blair is instantly on her feet, linking her arms through her handbag handles.

"We told you not to trust that girl, you handsome moron. Meet me at the penthouse"

She hangs up, turning to Dan.

"Sorry, Brooklyn, gotta go"

"Was that Nate?" Dan asks in a tone he wants nonchalant.

Blair rolls her eyes "Yes, and before you say anything else, you should call him. I can't anymore, with the two of you trying to casually find out how the other is doing"

"I don't…"

Blair doesn't hear the end of the sentence, because she closes the door behind her on her way out.

/

She finds Nate pacing in her foyer. She walks to him and smacks the back of his head.

"Everybody thinks my best friend is a slut, and it's your fault!" she says.

"Ouch!" Nate rubs the back of his head "How is it my fault? And besides, half of Manhattan already thought of Serena as…"

Blair stretches her eyes, and Nate stops, realizing what he was about to say.

"Look, I would have never thought that Juliet would go that far, okay? She seemed like a nice, put-together, normal girl"

"No one is that organized on the Upper East Side. That's why we pay people to do the boring stuff like grocery shopping"

"What are we going to do?" Nate seems anxious "I really didn't want Serena to get hurt"

"Well it's too late, now. You find your psychotic girlfriend, and bring her to me. I'll talk to Serena, meanwhile"

Nate leaves and Blair goes up to the bedrooms. Serena is standing by her trunk, throwing clothes into it.

"What are you doing?" Blair asks

"I'm leaving. I can't believe you would do this to me Blair."

"Wait, stop" Blair walks to grab Serena's arm "It wasn't me, it was Juliet! Why would you think I would do this?"

Serena looks at her, confused "Well…you're mad at me"

"Am I?"

"I don't know" Serena shrugs "You've barely talked to me for the past two weeks…and…"

Blair sighs, and brings Serena to sit on the bed with her.

"I've just been busy, with school and Chuck and…"

Hiding in Brooklyn, making out with her ex-boyfriend.

"So you're not mad at me?" Serena asks, on the verge of tears.

Blair pulls her into a hug.

"Of course, I'm not. I'm going to fix this. I promise. Just stay here, and relax. That bitch is going down."

Serena chuckles, holding back her tears "Thanks, B"

Blair leaves her, and tries to collect herself in the hallway. Nate texts her that he set up a meeting with Juliet in a tea salon on Park Avenue, and Blair is on her way.

When Juliet sees Blair entering the café instead of Nate, she stiffens on her seat. Blair sits with her at the table and does her thing.

"You're going to leave Serena alone, once and for all. You're going to tell Gossip Girl it was a lie, and you're going to transfer to another college next year. One very far away from this city"

"I didn't do anything"

"Cut the crap. We both know you did. And if you keep doing that kind of things, I'm going to follow you everywhere you go, because we both know that someone as full of shit as you probably has a very, very dark secret laying around somewhere. And I'm sure you've heard that finding secrets is my favorite past time"

They have some sort of stare contest for a moment, then Juliet gets up.

"This isn't over" she says

"You're right. You're also going to leave Nate alone. Or I'll file a restraining order against you, and stalk Nate like his shadow so you won't be able to approach him within twenty feet"

After one last look, Juliet gets out of the café, and Blair allows herself to calm down. She is done, for the day. Her phone beeps, and she reads the email she just received. Or not so done. She leaves the café, and gets into the town car waiting for her, ordering the chauffeur to take her to The Empire.

Chuck is waiting for her it seems, because he has a drink in his hand, and another one put on the coffee table in front of him.

When he sees her, he has a little smirk. And that's when Blair realizes that she is, indeed, done. She doesn't want to keep fighting with him forever. It will never end well for her, and she just wants to move on. Perhaps Humphrey is right. Perhaps scheming is just not as fun and fulfilling as it used to be to her.

"You won" she says "The professor resigned, and I lost a way to boost my academic year. Happy?"

Chuck has this bitter laugh that makes her shiver. She doesn't show it, though.

"This was just a warm up, Blair" he says "I'm not done getting back at you. You took away my future. I'm going to do the same for you. Whatever you want, whatever you get, I'm going to take it away from you."

"You and Eva would have never lasted, and you know it. I did you a favor. But if you're too blind to admit it, then so be it" She turns around to leave "And once again, have fun playing with yourself"

She is just starting to walk when Chuck says "Heading to Brooklyn?"

Blair's blood freezes. She turns to see that he started to drink in the glass that was meant for her, and that he is eying her, inspecting her reaction. She tries to be the less transparent she can.

"What are you talking about?" she asks, feigning only half of her annoyance.

"According to Andrew Tyler, you've been spending a lot of time over there"

"You had me followed?" Blair asks, disgusted "So what, you were there when he was my date to your charity. Humphrey and I are friends, now. And it's none of your business"

Chuck stands up, and approaches her with that feline walk of his. He leans down to whisper in her ear.

"I know what you're doing with him. I've seen the pictures of you leaving his building. I know what you look like after completion"

Blair pushes him away "I am not sleeping with Humphrey, and you don't know anything"

"I know, Blair. Don't try to pretend. See, I told you, I want you left with nothing, and no one. And Humphrey is going to be the first one to go. Won't be long until after he tells Serena about you two, pressured by his sense of morality; then she'll be following. And it will only be the start"

"You're pathetic. No one will believe you"

Blair goes to the elevator, ordering her legs not to shake.

"My degree of veracity never stopped me from crushing my opponents" Chuck says while the doors close on her.

/

Blair avoids Dan for three days after that. He doesn't seem to notice, and it drives her crazy. Not that she cares, that much. But how can someone be so clueless? She focuses on convincing Serena -not very successfully - that hooking up with a teacher is a bad idea, and helping Nate out with his Art History paper.

"Why are you taking this class again?"

They are sitting in her living room, and Nate is playing with his pencil.

He shrugs "I needed something to do with my Thursday afternoon other than getting high"

Blair frowns "Since when have you become so responsible?"

"Turns out the more years go by, and the less fun it gets to get high by yourself. Especially when you've been doing it since freshman year of high school"

"Why don't you set up interviews, to find yourself a smoke buddy?"

"Would you apply?" Nate grins at her "Nah, it's cool. This is me, getting more mature, I guess. It was about time"

"Fine, I'm happy for you now let's get back to Botticelli, shall we?"

Their phones beep simultaneously, and they both check it.

"Wow" Nate says, and looks at her.

Blair cannot quite tear her eyes away from the screen for a moment. Then she puts the phone away.

"So Botticelli was Italian, from…"

"Why aren't you blowing up?" Nate asks.

Blair shrugs "Why should I be?"

"You _banished _her, Blair. And now she is back, applying for a fashion school"

"Jenny Humphrey is only back because Chuck convinced her to, and he's doing that to get to me. Which I won't let him. So let's stop talking about it, okay?"

"Looks like someone else has been doing some maturing" Nate tries to tickle her, and she bats his hand away.

He stops laughing when he sees Serena coming down the stairs.

"I didn't know studying with Blair could be so fun" she says, joining them in the living room.

Nate sits up.

"It's not" he says "But I'm forcing myself to laugh, or I'll jump through the window"

"Be my guest, then" Blair says.

But Nate isn't even listening anymore. He is looking at Serena, and she is looking back at him and Blair wants to vomit. She rolls her eyes, getting up.

"There are a thousand other places I need to be at, right now" she says.

She goes up to her room to take her purse, and when she gets back down, Nate and Serena are both seating on the couch, talking.

Blair stops on her way out "It's a bad idea" she says before leaving.

She is just getting out of her building when she sees Dan walking toward her. Alarms signals light up in her brain.

"What are you doing here, Humphrey?"

"You promised, Blair" Dan says, and she is shocked to hear the anger in his voice "You promised you wouldn't try to hurt me, or my family"

It doesn't take her very long to figure out that something happened to Jenny, and that Chuck, being behind it, managed to put the blame on her.

"Look" she says "I don't know what you're talking about, but whatever it is, it's Chuck. He's trying to frame me"

"Why would he sabotage Jenny to get back at you? You hate her, you're probably gloating"

"I am not!" Blair takes her step closer to him, hoping he would calm down "He knows about us…being more than friendly. And he is trying to use that against me. I would never do anything to Jenny. At least not anymore. I keep my promises, Humphrey"

"Look, Blair" Dan brushes a hand on his face "It's been nice being friends with you and all but…I'm not going to keep doing this if it involves getting my sister into your sick games with Chuck"

"Why aren't you listening to me?" Blair almost yells "You brat of a sister is the last person I want here. I banished her. How do you think I would look, if people learned that a little Brooklyn wannabe had sex with _my _ex-boyfriend?"

"So you just care about your reputation" Dan laughs bitterly "I thought you'd changed"

"Don't try this with me, Humphrey. Do you want me to remind you how you would _die of shame_ if anyone learned what you've been doing with me for the past two weeks?"

Dan shakes his head "I guess we've got nothing more to say to each other, then"

"I guess not"

Dan turns around to leave, and Blair watches him go, trembling with fury, and some kind of sadness. She is not going to let Jenny Humphrey ruin her life, once again. Blair ignores the voice in her head telling her that Jenny isn't even the real problem. Chuck managed to take even Dan Humphrey from her.

Blair would have never thought it would sting that much.

/

When Dan goes to his father's that afternoon, it's to find Eric nervously taping his foot on the floor. He explains to Dan how Jenny decided to get revenge, and how she is on her way to a benefit where she knows she'll find Chuck and Blair.

"We're going" Dan says "And if I come across Chuck, your job is to stop me from breaking his jaw"

Dan doesn't even know what kind of charity it is, and he really doesn't care. All he wants is to find his sister, bring her home safe before going back to the loft and sulk about how befriending Blair Waldorf was such a fucking mistake.

Except they weren't just friends. They weren't friends with benefits either. Dan can't explain, even to himself, how Blair Waldorf has created this whole new dimension of friendship with him. He thinks of what Nate said, last year.

People don't kiss because they're just friends. They kiss because they have feelings for each other.

Dan doesn't have feelings for Blair; or no other than hatred, at the moment. But generally, he doesn't have feelings for her. Sure, she smells nice, and he likes to kiss her, _a lot._ Still, it's all physical appeal. He doesn't like who she is, he just likes what she feels like. He can't believe he once again got into this trap. He should have known better. She is Serena's best friend, after all.

When they arrive to the party, Dan spots immediately Blair cutting through the crowd, her minions behind her.

"Move! I have a Humphrey to squash!"

Dan and Eric make their ways through the crowd, and just when they get to Blair talking to Chuck, and Dan thinks he might hit him again, half of the phones in the room ring.

Dan sighs, before flipping his phone open. He never liked reading about Jenny on Gossip Girl, and this is the worst blast about her ever posted. Anger burst through his veins. Apparently, Blair would go that far.

"It's a lie" he then hears Blair say to the crowd "It's not true"

"Give it up, Blair"

Jenny stands, tall and confident, and everyone is looking at her.

"I did. And now, everyone knows who I gave it too"

Chuck breezes past Dan, followed by Blair, but at the moment, Dan is too appalled to notice.

"I don't need your lecture, Dan" Jenny sighs "They tried to play with me, I just took control before they could"

"Jenny…I don't even know what to say" Dan shakes his head "Except perhaps Blair was right to send you away"

"You cannot be defending her, right now"

"I'm not. Not really. But you've only been back for one day, and look at what happened. This isn't what I would want for you"

"I'm not intending to stay, Dan" Jenny says "I was just giving them a taste of their own medicine before I go. Now, if you'll excuse me"

She walks past him to the exit, and Dan follows her. He stands back when she starts talking to Blair. He listens how Jenny says that defeat Blair, she would have to become her, and how she doesn't want that. And Dan is brought back to that night, eating ice cream in her kitchen in Paris; when he realized that perhaps, he had never really known Blair.

His eyes meet Blair's over Jenny's shoulder while she talks.

"You two used to be in love" she says "And together, you were invincible. But now that you've turned against each other, it's only a matter of time before your mutual destruction"

Blair purses her lips, more annoyed than anything. She knows that. She doesn't need Jenny Humphrey to tell her that. It's the only reason why she was allowed to step in Manhattan again in the first place. Before her jerk of a brother screwed everything up.

Jenny turns around, and Dan passes an arm around her shoulder as they go. He twists his head slightly to look at Blair one last time.

He drops off Jenny at their father's, leaving her under Eric's care, with promises of spending a day together before she has to go back to Hudson. Then he heads back to Brooklyn, where he seems to only belong.

He's just undone his tie when he hears the front door open. Blair is entering, still in her beige dress, wary.

She just stands there for a bit, fingers fiddling with the claps of her clutch.

"Guess what" she finally says.

Dan goes to sit on the couch, head falling back, closing his eyes. He is exhausted.

"I don't have time for your riddles, Blair"

"Fine" Blair says after a beat "I'll just tell you, then"

She just doesn't give up, Dan thinks. It makes him laugh. He doesn't know if it's genuine, or the nervous response of fatigue.

"Chuck wants a truce" she says, sitting next to him on the couch "He said he wanted us to be able to live in the same city again"

"Terrific. Another episode of the Chuck and Blair show ends"

Blair bites the inside of her cheek, wondering why she is even bothering.

"And while he kept talking about that kind of stuff, all I could think about was making things better with you"

Dan opens his eyes, sliding his head slightly to the side to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"Yes"

Dan has this tingly feeling in his hand, because he wants to grab her chin and bring her lips to his. But it seems like she wants to have an open conversation, with hearts out and all the girly crap. He is usually up for it, but something about the way she looks at him makes him want to just hold her tight, and never consider the mere possibility of letting go.

This is probably what Nate was talking about.

"I think for both of our sake, we should stop…you know" Blair waves her hand in the air nonchalantly, to replace the unsaid.

Dan laughs again "How come the only time you actually decided to use that word was when Vanessa was inconveniently standing in my kitchen?"

"You agree with me, don't you?"

Blair finds herself hoping he does. She doesn't think she can go much longer, and keep on feeling so light headed when he kisses her. Sometimes, when she closes her eyes, she can feel the trail of his fingers on her skin, she can remember every place where he touched her. And she can hear his laugh, in her ear. And she knows it's not good. Not for her, not for him.

But definitely not for her. This is Dan Humphrey, for crying out loud.

"I do agree with you" Dan says "Now we'll just have to do normal stuff, like going to The Met or something"

Blair smiles. He thinks going to The Met is 'normal stuff'.

"Sure" she answers "I'm really sorry about what happened"

"Don't be. You kept your promise. I just acted like the jerk who refused to see that there was more to you than scheming and scolding people about their outfits. Besides, everyone is to blame for everything in the Upper East Side"

"Thank God, you have Brooklyn to escape"

"So do you" Dan pats her hand "You can escape and come here anytime you'd like"

"You're sweet, Humphrey"

"So are you. Sometimes"

Blair smiles at him again. Then she gets up.

"I should go"

"You don't have to" Dan says "In fact, stay here, I have something for you"

Dan goes to his father's vinyl collection, and pulls out one. He settles it on the player; Blair cringes at the first notes.

"This is too melancholic" she says "Not after the day we've had"

Dan offers her his hand that she takes anyway, and pulls her close to him, sliding his free hand on her hip.

"It's to remember Paris. You were right, the other night. Everything sucks in New York"

"We should go back"

"We really should"

Blair puts her forehead on his shoulder. She wants to concentrate on Aznavour's voice, but she is distracted by the way his thumb is running slowly over the back of her hand. And the way his nose is in her hair. And when he kisses her cheek, she pulls slightly away.

"Humphrey" she warns.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry" he sighs "But in my defense, that dress is so not fair"

Blair laughs "We are not teenagers, you'll manage"

They dance slowly until the song ends. Then Blair pulls completely away from him.

"I have to go" she says, wondering if it's obvious that she wants him to ask her to stay.

"Okay" Dan nods "Thanks for stopping by"

"Sure"

He opens the door for her, and when she starts walking away, he calls her.

"Do you really think we can do it?" he asks "Being normal friends, I mean"

Blair thinks about it "I don't think we can be normal. But, I have the feeling that friends is somewhat not going to be a problem. Not a major one, at least. I still have to get accustomed to your filthy eating habits."

She leaves with a last smile. Dan closes the door. He can still smell her on him. He goes to take a shower, pretends like it's going to change anything; that the smell is solely lingering on his olfaction, and not burnt into his brain.

He listens to La Bohème a last time before going to bed. It wasn't just physical, he realizes. He was indeed getting attached, and now, it doesn't feel as dangerous. But he never really managed to have the right timing, and this time is no different.

* * *

_Next chapter is Blair's birthday, so yay. And if you're wondering, Dan and Blair aren't going to get really romantic anytime soon, other things have to happen and I want to explore different sides of their friendship. But fortunately, there is always flirt ;)_

_Still with me?_

_Love, xo._


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi lovelies !_

_I want you to know that I read most of the reviews on my phone, so that's why I don't answer to all of them, because I can do it only from my computer, but I appreciate every single one of them. Your words really encourage me._

_Now, I am much more satisfied with this chapter than I was with the previous one. But you guys might not think the same way, haha._

_I won't say more, just let you read. Hope you'll enjoy it; have a good reading!_

* * *

The air gets cooler and the trees turn orange. It rains almost every single day. Dan never liked the transition between the warm, heavy air of summer and the biting cold of winter. He doesn't even really consider fall to be a season. Just another reason to be cranky.

He gets out of his Japanese literature course, wrapping cautiously a scarf around his neck and grimacing at the wind scratching the skin on his face.

"Humphrey!"

Dan turns around in one, rigid swirl.

"Blair?" he asks, as he watches her walk to him with a smile on her face "What are you doing here, at NYU?"

"I felt nostalgic" she shrugs.

Dan buries his fists in his pockets.

"Try something more believable, will you?"

Blair rolls her eyes "Fine. My last class of the day was canceled, and since we haven't see each other in a while, I thought that I would come to have lunch with you"

"You mean that Serena was already busy" Dan nods.

"Enough with the sassiness, alright?" Blair hands him the two books in her arms "And hold this for me"

Dan takes them, and waits for her to do whatever she's planning to do, then when she starts walking, he realizes that she just expects him to carry her books. With a groan, he follows her.

"Where do you wanna eat?" he asks.

"I was thinking Veselka"

Dan stops short, then so does Blair.

"You want to go to Veselka" he says pointedly, looking her in the eyes.

"Serena told me once that I should try it. And who else would I try it with but you?" she starts walking again "I'm giving you the exclusive opportunity to rub my critical spirit…"

"Snobbery" Dan corrects

"…in my face if I happen to like it"

So they go, to Veselka. When they sit at a table, Dan wants to laugh. Blair looks quite out of tune compared to the general ambiance of the restaurant, with her leather pink purse and her shining heels. He thinks it to be sort of cute, until she starts sanitizing the whole table with a tissue.

The waitress brings them coffee, Blair wipes the border of the cup before taking a sip.

"You're unbelievable" Dan tells her

"How have you been?" she ignores his remark, sipping on her coffee.

"Fine. You?"

"Excellent" she sighs with content "My life couldn't be more perfect, right now."

"That's good" Dan laughs a little.

His own life has been less than perfect. Always in class, no time for his writing, trying to explain to Vanessa that whatever she witnessed between him and Blair didn't mean anything; trying to convince himself of it.

"Yes" Blair sits back in her chair, relaxing "Chuck is no longer after me, and my time is too valuable to even think about him. My classes are going really well, and Serena just got me this beautiful dress"

"Apologizing gift?" Dan asks, because he knows that no one fight more than Blair and Serena.

It's a wonder they're still roommates, at this point of the year.

"No, she just saw it and it made her think of me" Blair shrugs, then her face lightens up "Speaking of…" she reaches into her purse and gets out a book "I got you this"

Dan takes the book, a bit wary and taken aback. He wouldn't put it past Blair to give him _Writing for Dummies_ or something like that. But it's _Les Misérables_, by Victor Hugo.

"I saw this at the bookstore, and I realized I never took you to see the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris" she explains "So this is me making up for it. You can start my praising, now"

Dan looks at the cover of the book. He is touched. He hates to feel it. Because Blair Waldorf doesn't move him. Ever. He tries to hide his sentiment by shoving nonchalantly the book in his bag.

"Thanks" he says

Blair's smile disappears "That's all?"

Dan raises his eyebrows at her, feigning confusion.

"Humphrey, I don't know if you realize that doing something thoughtful, especially for someone who's from Brooklyn isn't really my primary trait of personality"

"You got me the book because you wanted me to be all grateful, and say how wonderful you are. This is a gift for yourself" he points his finger at her.

"I got it because I knew you would like it, and because it made me think of you" Blair counters in a low, dangerous tone.

"So you'd rather think of me than think of Chuck, now" Dan gives her a smug grin.

"Psh"

Blair turns her head to the side, looking at nowhere in particular. Dan knows she expects him to apologize. He starts drinking his coffee, and studies the menu. Then he feels her shoe stomping on his.

"Are you trying to hurt me with you little girl's shoes?" he laughs, looking under the table.

Blair uses her heel, pressing it on one of his toe, and Dan actually curses this time

"Fuck, Blair!" he removes it foot "Thank you for this wonderful gift, my life is so much better since we've been friends" he says sarcastically.

Blair is smiling again "Now, that's more like it. Oh look!" her glare gets distracted by something behind him "It's Vanessa!"

Dan doesn't turn around to look, because since when Blair is so enthusiastic at the sight of Vanessa? He blinks several times when he sees Blair waving, clearly giving Vanessa sign of them and inviting her to come.

"And she's with Nate!" Blair tells Dan with another smile.

And all confusion is gone. He just keeps sipping on his coffee, giving her a look to show that he knows what she's doing. Vanessa arrives to their table, dragging slightly Nate by the arm.

"Nate look!" she says with the same enthusiastic smile as Blair "It's Dan and Blair! What a coincidence!"

"The fact that you're both overplaying it on purpose really insults me" Nate tells her.

Dan groans in agreement. Vanessa drags a chair to sit next to him. Blair stares at Nate, threatening, before he does the same.

Dan doesn't look up. He doesn't want to. Not really.

"Okay, I'm gonna cut to the chase" Vanessa says, sensing the tension "We both asked you here today, because we are sick of you casually taking news of the other through us."

"And also because I'm scared that Humphrey will force me to talk about soccer" Blair nods "But the point is, Serena was the cause of your little quarrel, and neither of you wants to be with her, anymore."

"So there's no reason for you guys not to make up. You two obviously miss each other" Vanessa nudges Dan.

So Dan does look up. Nate is looking at him with quite a dead expression. Then he laughs slightly, and holds out his hand to Dan. Dan smiles and shakes it.

"Don't think this means I've been calling out your name in my sleep" Dan releases the grasp.

Nate opens his arms in defense "I haven't been writing Mrs. Dan Humphrey in my notebook"

They laugh together. Vanessa smiles, looking at them, and Blair rolls her eyes.

"Are we good now?" she asks, then before waiting for the answer, takes out a binder from her purse "Great. I have work for you"

"What?" Dan and Nate ask.

Blair opens the binder "As you all probably know, my birthday is coming in four days"

Dan exchanges a doubtful glance with Vanessa.

"I'm taking care of everything because I refuse to trust some social climbing party planner with my twentieth birthday" Blair continues "And Dorota is sick, so the work naturally lands on you"

"Naturally" Nate repeats in a tired sigh "What do you need?"

"You are going to go to Le Petit Oeuf and order the menu I will send you by text. And you're going with Humphrey, because I can't be positive that you won't get anything mixed up"

"Why doesn't he go alone, then?" Nate pouts a little.

"You really see Humphrey asking for a filet mignon au beurre blanc?" Blair narrows her eyes "Then the two of you are going to hire a Disc Jockey"

"Everyone says DJ, Blair"

"And give him a specific playlist. I won't need Flo Rida, that night. Now, Abrams and I…"

"I'm sorry?" Vanessa interrupts her with a laugh "You want me to help you?"

"There is a very important member of the Cambodian government that my mother is making me put on the guest list" Blair explains "And I need you to take me to Chinatown so I can put down something familiar on the menu"

Vanessa frowns "You know Cambodia isn't China right?"

Blair stares blankly at her.

"Am I even going to be invited?" Vanessa asks.

Blair purses her lips "That could be up for debate"

/

Dan and Nate decide to walk to the catering shop. Blair calls every twelve minutes or so to find out where they are and complains that they haven't arrived yet. After the third call, they both turn off their phones and laugh at the thought of Vanessa stuck with her.

The first thing they talk about is soccer, because it's the only thing that isn't filled with tension and awkwardness. They comment the latest games, and make plans to go play at the park before the grass becomes too muddy and the leaves start invading it. Nate is the one who brings up Serena, in a pointless promise to Dan that everything is done between them. Dan does the same, afterwards. There is another silence, and when it gets too heavy, Nate brings up another girl –because if they don't talk about girls or soccer or school, they don't talk much, really.

"So you and Blair are friends now?" Nate asks with a smirk

"Yeah" Dan laughs

"I'm so sorry, man" Nate pats him on the shoulder.

"It's not that bad. Not all the time, I guess" Dan shrugs "I can talk to her about stuff, you know"

Nate frowns, but still smiles.

"What could Dan Humphrey and Blair Waldorf possibly have in common?"

"She doesn't complain if I want to watch a movie with subtitles" Dan gives him an accusatory look.

"Ouch. Blair, one; Nate…minus ten"

"I don't know what to tell you" Dan says then "We were both heart broken when I got to Paris. Her from Chuck and me from Milo. I guess we bonded"

"You told her about Milo?" Nate asks, surprised.

Dan takes a few seconds to answer "Yeah. It sorta happened"

"Well, that's nice" Nate shrugs "Now we can actually all hang out together"

"Mmh, pass. If I see Chuck's face, I beat it senseless"

"Again?" Nate asks in a laugh "You should put it down as favorite hobby, on your resume"

"And he should write '_fuck with people's lives for my own entertainment'_"

He feels the anger biting its way up in his stomach, and decides to calm down before it gets worst.

"Sorry" he tells Nate "I know he's your friend and all…"

"It's okay, man. Chuck and I haven't really talked lately. Ever since Eva left he's like…a ghost wandering the apartment. Except that instead of bringing with him a sudden cold, it's a whim of scotch"

"He had it coming"

"I don't know. He's had it rough for a while. He gets so stressed up about his business"

"None of us ever told him not to go to college, like everyone else around him. Perhaps he should have, even. He could have learned about how rape and human trafficking is actually illegal in the United States"

"Hey calm down, Dan. Jenny said herself that…" Nate trails off, frowning for real this time "What did you say?"

"I don't…I'm not sure, it was the anger talking" Dan wonders if he offended Nate at some point in his rambling.

"Why did you talk about human trafficking?" Nate asks.

Dan realizes what he's done with a cold shudder. His brain doesn't come up with a cover story quickly enough, and he is left looking at Nate, with his mouth hanging open, small sounds coming out from it.

"Do you know something?" Nate asks.

He stops walking. So does Dan. He is looking at Nate with the same suspicious glare now. Nate asked if he knows something, not what he means. Which probably means that Nate knows about something and that Dan knows about something, but it doesn't have to be the same thing. He wonders how many different secrets Blair has confessed to different people. For some reason, he thinks that perhaps someone out there knows the name of her Cabbage Patch.

"She told me something" Dan finally says, studying Nate's reaction.

He just looks confused. For a change.

"About human trafficking?"

"Not exactly. It involves some kind of trade. But if you don't know, I really don't think I can tell you. I don't even think she's told Serena"

"She hasn't" Nate crosses his arms "Which is why I am really wondering why she chose to tell _you_."

Dan understands that they know the same thing. And neither of them are able to phrase it out loud.

"It sort of happened" Dan says "I don't know, we were talking about Chuck in Paris and it…I don't know, man. But she told me"

"And she still let you live afterwards?" Nate starts walking again.

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?"

They finally get in front of the shop.

"Yes, well" Nate opens the door "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think Armageddon might be upon us"

/

Blair is starting to realize that she and Vanessa have something in common; neither of them wants to talk to the other. And it's a relationship that actually works. On the ride to Chinatown, Vanessa scribbles on a little notebook, and she reminds Blair of Dan, when he is lost in his creativity. Blair on her side doesn't have anything to do. She is not an artist. So she calls Nate a couple of times, then stops when she gets directly to his voicemail.

Vanessa sighs a couple of times. Blair ignores it. But she keeps doing it and at one point, Blair cannot stand it anymore.

"I am not taking you to get slaughtered" she says "If you want to go, I'll stop the car"

Vanessa scratches something, then closes her notebook.

"It's not that" she says "I'm trying to write a script, but I can't do it here"

"Let me guess, all the wealth hanging around the town car halts the pureness of your creation?"

Vanessa snorts "No. I just have a very specific position that I like to take when I do this kind of things. And I really need it to write this thing, but I can't in the back of a car"

Blair glances at the notebook in her hands. Her curiosity gets tickled. Dan never talks about what he writes. Blair suspects that every word his pencil draws is still about Serena. But she doesn't know anything about Vanessa. She tries to come up in her head with plots that Vanessa would be likely to create and she finds nothing. Blair bites her lip before asking.

"What is it about?"

Vanessa sighs –again "It's about a girl who's trying to process the news of her best friend making a pact with the devil"

Blair narrows her eyes "Typical. You and Humphrey definitely have no imagination"

Vanessa shrugs. Blair takes out her phone and tries to dial Dan. Voicemail, of course.

"What happened with you and Dan, anyway?" Vanessa asks.

"Trust me, I know it's hard to believe, but I am getting really tired of repeating. Humphrey and I are friends, now. It's not the end of the world"

Vanessa shakes her head "I'm not talking about that. The other day, when you came in the loft, you said…something. And Dan tried to explain to me…but I just couldn't understand"

Blair bites her lip. This is not a conversation she wants to have, less with Abrams. But the less she tells, the more Vanessa will wonder. She came back in New York, thinking that her ex-boyfriend was still in love with Serena. Then she learns that he actually has a thing with the best friend, the one he normally hates.

A thing. That's what Blair had with Humphrey. She cannot even put it in words, less process it in thoughts. It's like it never happened. Nothing has changed between them. They went back to the point they had gotten before their little arrangements. If not, they were even closer. But sometimes, when she least expects it –actually, she never really expects it –Blair thinks of those moments. His hands stroking her hair, his lips behind her ear, and their hips getting closer and bumping against the other's; her breath trapped in her lungs.

She realizes Vanessa is waiting for an answer. Anything she would be able to tell at that point would be confused, and unhelpful to the comprehension of the situation, but she goes for it.

"We kissed in front of the Eiffel Tower" Blair says.

She is as surprised as Vanessa, although not for the same reason. She didn't think she would start the explanation by that story. Blair wonders if, subconsciously, she considers that night to be where everything started.

"I was at night, and we had just been wine tasting. I gave him a tour, and I told him about how I thought that a kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower by night was romantic. So he kissed me, as a thank you for giving him a free place to stay"

Vanessa seems suspicious. But then, she says;

"This does sound like Dan. At least I know he wasn't abducted and replaced"

Blair doesn't answer.

"And what about what I heard?" Vanessa asks again, clearly not satisfied.

"It was nothing. It was just two friends, helping each other escape the tensions in life for a few hours"

"Hours?" Vanessa takes note, incredulous

"Figurative speech. Minutes" Blair corrects, but doesn't even know if she's lying.

"And he told you about Milo"

Blair hears in her tone that it's not a question. Vanessa is thoughtful, as if trying to put together a puzzle that she doesn't know what it will represent. Blair wonders if Vanessa would be willing to give her the answer, if she ever finds it.

/

"Blair, can I invite Colin to your party?"

Serena is lying on Blair's bed, casually typing on her phone and giving Blair her thoughts about her choices of outfit for the big night. Blair doesn't turn around, just stares at Serena's reflection through the mirror.

"The teacher? Yes, sure"

"He's not a teacher, he's a professor" Serena corrects, as if it makes a difference. "And you don't have any counter arguments?"

"I'm just done telling you how everything you do is a bad idea, since you're going to do it anyways"

Serena shrugs "I really like him, B. He is such a free spirit"

"He gives you the sensation of knowing something you've never known before" Blair rolls her eyes "And he makes you feel like you could be so much more than what you already are." Blair turns around "How's this one?"

Serena gets off the bed and goes to take Blair by the shoulder.

"You look perfect" she says with a smile. "And mock me as much as you like, but you know those are the great kind of love"

"Love? Serena, you've known him for five minutes"

Serena opens her mouth but before she can talk, Dorota appears by the door.

"Miss Blair, Miss Serena, the guests have arrived"

"I'll change" Blair says, getting out of her dress.

"Guests?" Serena frowns "I thought we were just having dinner with your parents"

"I invited Nate and Dan"

"What? Blair! The boys whose friendship I almost destroyed?"

Blair sighs "They made up, and neither of them wants you, anymore"

Serena crosses her arms, and moves from one foot to another "They told you that?" she asks, barely a whisper.

Blair takes her time to answer "I understood"

Once Blair is dressed in what she considers to be casual enough, they go downstairs together. Nate and Dan are standing, talking in the foyer. Serena gives them a little wave, and they both answer with a nod before she moves to the dining room. Blair stops, taking in the fact that Dan chose to wear a jacket and a white shirt over his worn out jean.

"Look at you" she says "Looking all smart. You know it's just Serena and my parents, right?"

"Well forgive me if I don't know the required outfit for a rehearsal dinner to a birthday party. Since it's not exactly a thing"

"Everything I come up with becomes a thing, sooner or later"

Blair's glance goes down to his hands. He is holding flowers. He hands them to her.

"This is for you"

Blair takes them and bites her lip to refrain the smile forming on her lips.

"It's the second time" she says "If you don't stop, I'll make it a mandatory requirement to your visits, Humphrey"

Dan laughs slightly. Then Blair turns to Nate. He is looking at the two of them in some sort of awe. Blair can't blame him. She is pretty sure she was just flirting with Humphrey.

"I see you came empty handed" she says, to distract him.

"The wine is on me, tonight. I hired your favorite sommelier, the one in the Village" Nate says, still looking at them.

Blair gives him a pleased smile. Nate always comes up with the best gifts for her. He leans to pull her in a small embrace.

"Happy Birthday. You're a horrible person, but I really don't know what my love life would be like if you weren't around to fix it"

"Thank you" Blair pulls away "For acknowledging my value. You two go to the table, I'll have to Dorota to put the flowers in a vase"

When she joins everyone in the dining room, they all cheer, making her laugh. Cyrus gets up and makes a toast before each course. The ambiance is light, and fun. Serena, Dan and Nate manage to be somehow civil to each other, passing each other the salt, or the water with a polite smile.

Cyrus happens to like Dan, a lot more than Blair would have thought. But then again, Dan is the only one to genuinely laugh at his jokes. Nate keeps pouring wine in Blair's glass, because he wants her to make good use of his birthday present. The night goes without any incidents, and the only regret Blair has is not to have her father by her side.

For the desert, the caterer serves them champagne, and they turn off the lights before Dorota comes with a cake, twenty candles firmly planted on it. Blair doesn't even care when Cyrus makes them all wear paper hats. She blows her candles, and thanks everyone by lifting her glass of champagne.

While they're eating the cake, Serena suggests that everyone tells a story about Blair. Blair refuses, because she doesn't even want to imagine what her mother and Humphrey have to say about her. But then, ignoring all of her threats, Nate tells the story about that time, when Blair threw him out without his coat in winter because he had fallen asleep watching _Breakfast at Tiffany's. _Serena follows, tells about how Blair would always give her a Christmas gift, a week before Christmas because she wanted her gift to her to be more special than the others. Eleanor just talks about the day Blair was born, and the challenge that the labor turned out to be. Finally, they all turned to Dan.

He is at loss. Everyone else has a special bond to her. The first story that comes to his mind is the kiss, in front of the Eiffel Tower. But he knows he can't tell that. He doesn't even want to. He wants to keep it to himself. So he tells the story about how she called him a pervert when she met him for the first time, while he had just saved Serena from getting run over by a taxi.

Both Serena and Blair blink in surprise; of course, neither of them remembers. Dan tells them that it doesn't matter, it was a long time ago. A time where he was sure that Serena was all he wanted, while now, this feeling doesn't apply anymore and changed into forcing him to be careful not to stare too much at the girl sitting next to her, tonight.

They move to the living room, for a last cup of tea before ending the night. Serena receives a phone call, and goes upstairs to take it. Dan stays a bit apart, because he feels this way. He remains standing by the piano, while all the others are sitting, and laughing.

He braces himself when he sees Blair walking toward him, leaving the others behind. His fingers grasp tightly the porcelain handle of her cup, he is afraid he's going to break it. Blair walks around him, around the piano, and sits behind it, looking at him.

It's this look again. The one she used to give him when they used to…Dan realizes how many things about Blair he can't bring himself to put into words.

But he holds her glare, and eventually, she smiles, playing mechanically a note on the piano.

"Do you play?" Dan asks

Blair doesn't strike him as the musician type.

"I used to, when I was little and my mother forced me to take classes. But I wasn't very good at it"

Dan nods.

"Do you?" she asks.

She moves to the side, leaving room for him. Dan takes the invitation and goes to sit next to her. He can barely see the others, now. He and Blair are enclosed by the piano and the wall behind them.

"I think I know _She'll be going round the mountain_" he says, putting the empty cup down on the floor cautiously.

Blair glances at it, he figures she doesn't like the idea of her porcelain on the floor, but she looks back up to him.

"Do you wanna hear it?" he asks.

Blair shakes her head "If you want to give me a great birthday present, it'll be the promise not to play it, ever"

Dan laughs "I promise, then"

Almost too naturally, he leans down, closing the small distance between them, and presses his lips on the corner of hers. He sees her closing her eyes slowly. Dan doesn't move for a few seconds, then when he pulls away, Blair opens her eyes, looking him straight in his.

"Happy Birthday, Blair" he breathes

They both jump a little when Nate appears next to them.

"I'm gonna go" he says "I have to help this annoying girl prepare her birthday party tomorrow"

"I'll go with you" Dan stands up.

Blair follows. Dan and Nate say goodbye to her parents, while she stands there. Then they both hug her, nothing seems awkward or odd when Dan presses her against him –and why would it?

She gives them both a slight wave before going up the stairs.

Dan and Nate get in the elevator, neither of them talks. But Dan saw from the corner of his eyes Nate's grin.

"Don't say it" Dan tells him.

"I don't have anything to say, man" Nate shakes his head. "I'm not even sure of what I saw, tonight"

"It's nothing"

Nate chuckles "Dude, it's not because I don't know what I saw, that I didn't see enough to know it's not _nothing_"

There is a still silence, until the elevator opens and they get into the lobby.

"Something happened" Dan hears himself say.

"Something?"

"It's not what you think. Not entirely. When it happened, I thought it was nothing and when it stopped, I realized it was something"

Nate puts a comforting hand on his back, leading him gently to the exit.

"Come on, let's go have a drink"

They go to a bar in the Upper West Side, remain silent in the cab. Then Nate orders two beers, he takes the first sip before sitting back in the booth.

"Alright" he says "Shoot. From the beginning"

Dan empties half of his beer in one gulp, ignoring Nate's amused glance. Then he puts down the glass.

"When I arrived in Paris, the first thing I did was to go to the museum. And she was there…"

/

Blair tries to stay calm, but she feels like she is on the verge of implosion. Can't anything be normal for one fucking night in her life? Is it too much to ask for her twentieth birthday?

Chuck came, uninvited, of course. It doesn't really bother her, but she's wary. She cannot shake the feeling that he is planning something to turn her night into a nightmare. But he just stands with a drink in his hand, making small talk with one of her professors. She suspects him of spilling dirt about her.

Blair isn't much afraid about Chuck being here, but about Dan's reaction when he arrives. She knows Dan still hasn't forgiven everything that's happened with Jenny, and she doesn't want him to get upset. Then she gets annoyed by herself, thinking that a year ago, she wouldn't have given a damn about Humphrey's feelings. Something is up with her.

Dorota is making a speech, about how Blair borrowed her tiara and never gave it back. There is a pull in Blair's heart when Dorota says that it doesn't matter, because she deserves twenty tiaras. Dorota is the only one to see her as what she wants to be.

After Dorota's speech, Serena makes one. Everyone turns to her and probably forgot that it's Blair that they're celebrating tonight. Serena finishes her speech, makes a toast and goes back to flirt passively with Colin, the professor.

Blair sees the elevator open, hopes that it's Dan, but it's not. She tries not to explode when she sees Juliet Sharp entering.

"What are you doing here?" she asks aggressively.

"I didn't know it was your party" Juliet says, not one bit afraid "I'm here to see my cousin"

"No one here is remotely related to you. Now get out of my house or I'll call the police"

"Juliet!"

Blair turns around to see Colin walking toward her with a smile.

"Blair, you've met my cousin"

Blair looks at Colin, then pass him to Serena. She looks as surprised as Blair.

"I need to talk to you" Juliet tells Colin

"Yeah sure, let me just…"

"Are you going to tell him about what you've done to Serena?" Blair asks in a innocent voice.

Colin frowns, looking at the two of them. Before he can ask anything, Juliet talks.

"I just need to tell him something" she tells Blair "And then I'll be on my way"

She takes Colin to the kitchen and before Blair can process another thought, Nate is standing next to her.

"What is Juliet doing here?" he asks stiffly.

"Turns out she's related to Serena's new boyfriend" Blair sighs "I am going to have to fix this too, aren't I?"

"We have bigger things on our plates for the moment" Nate points at the elevator.

Dan is coming in, wearing an impeccable suit, Vanessa by his side. Blair walks toward them.

"Good, you made it" she tells Vanessa with a still smile.

"Dan made me, and I'm only staying for twenty minutes" Vanessa replies.

Blair actually smiles then "Nate will walk you to the buffet"

Nate looks at Dan and Blair, and leads Vanessa to the party. Dan stays there, his eyes roaming over Blair's long, red, elegant dress. She looks so good in this color.

"You look amazing" he tells her

"You don't look so bad yourself" Blair answers with a smile. She puts a hand on his arm "Listen, Chuck is here. I didn't want to cause a scene by calling security"

Dan's jaw clenches, he gives a small shrug.

"Don't worry, I'll live"

Blair nods "Just try to stay away from the bar, and you won't even notice he's here"

Someone calls Blair's name, and she turns around.

"Go" Dan tells her "I'll be fine"

She gives him a last smile before leaving him.

Dan needs a drink. Unfortunately, as Blair predicted, the bar happens to be where Chuck is standing. Dan goes to the opposite end, where all there is, is punch. He groans as he shows the barman to pour him a glass. He groans again when he sees that Chuck is making his way toward him.

"Why am I not surprised by your choice of drink?" Chuck asks.

Dan glances at his glass of scotch.

"I know I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't your first one of the night" he replies.

"This is what men drink, Humphrey. But it might be a bit too strong for you. You weren't built to handle complex things"

Dan frowns, and follows Chuck's glare onto Blair in the crowd.

"The most complex things actually require to be handled gently" Dan puts down his glass "Too bad some people can't see that"

Chuck has a stiff laugh "You know you owe me, right, Humphrey?"

"You should really think about stand-up comedy"

Chuck gets closer to him "I didn't tell anyone about you and Blair. I could have"

"You didn't tell anyone because you don't know anything" Dan's hand molds into a fist.

"Oh, I know plenty. And while I didn't get to the bottom of it, it won't matter if one day, I need something from you"

"Listen Chuck" Dan turns to face him "I'm not playing these games with you. You can go around saying whatever you want, no one will believe you, okay?"

Blair really tries to pretend that whatever her mother's business partner is saying is worth every drop of her attention, while knowing perfectly that Dan and Chuck are talking. She feels like punching Humphrey. She told him not to go to the bar.

There is a punch it turns out. But it's not from Blair to Dan. It's from Dan to Chuck. It draws attention, several guests gasp. Chuck stumbles back in the shock and bumps into a guest standing there. She falls on her back, then sits up, telling everyone she is okay. That is until the chocolate fountain falls on her head.

Blair gets to Chuck and Dan at the same time as Nate and Vanessa.

"Take him, out" she tells Nate, pointing at Dan. She crouches down to force Chuck up "I'll explain myself with this one"

"Blair…" Dan starts saying.

"Save it" she doesn't want to look at him, and she certainly doesn't want to see the remorse in his eyes.

Otherwise, she'll melt.

Chuck is on his feet and moves toward Dan, but Blair holds him back.

"Stop it! You're coming with me" she says

"Afraid that I'll hurt your boyfriend" Chuck asks her, his face so close to her that her stomach gets turned by the alcohol on his breath.

"Shut the fuck up" she whispers to him.

She starts pushing him toward the stairs, avoiding everyone's eyes –especially her mother's. She turns around to see Nate and Vanessa trying to drag Dan toward the exit. But Dan fights it and keeps looking at her. Blair releases Chuck and she is grateful when Serena comes to hold him back. She walks toward Dan.

Everyone is looking at them, and the music still playing feels like a mockery.

"I am not mad at you" she says "But you need to go. Now"

Dan looks at her for a few seconds then nods, and finally gives in to Nate and Vanessa.

"Take care of the guests. Make everyone leave" Blair whispers to Serena before pushing Chuck up the stairs.

She brings him in her room, and makes him sit on her bed. He looks up at her. Blair moves her hand to touch his swollen cheek with the tip of her fingers.

"You can't help ruining everything, can't you?" she says "I thought you wanted a truce"

"I did. But you didn't have to rub your secret affair in my face"

"There is nothing between Humphrey and I" Blair's hand drops "You need to stop focusing on things that don't exist"

"You like him"

"As a friend. And you don't have anything to say about that"

"It doesn't mean that I have to like it"

"Then stay away from me. Because the more I'll see the bruise on your face, the more my affection for him will grow"

/

Dan walks around for a while, doesn't even feel the cold air. He is aware of the pain on his knuckles, and Nate and Vanessa walking behind him silently. Sometimes he hears them whisper, trying to convince one another to talk to him.

Dan doesn't know for how long they've been walking when Nate finally catches up with him.

"Wanna tell me what happened?"

"It doesn't matter" Dan says, more aggressively that he intends "He won. I let him get the best of me"

"What did he say to you?"

"Something. I don't wanna talk about it"

"Was it about Blair?"

Dan doesn't answer. Nate sighs.

"Dude, I think this thing might be more serious than you think"

"It's not. We're friends, that's all. And I protect my friends"

"Okay, Dan, stop" Vanessa talks this time.

They both stop walking to turn to her.

"If there is something that I know, is that you always fight for the wrong girls. And the ones that are right for you, you give up" Vanessa bites her lip "How…how do you feel about Blair? Tell us"

Dan thinks about it. He tries at least. But everything is tangled in his head. _Complex_.

"I don't know" he says.

"Good. It means that you feel something" Vanessa puts a hand on his shoulder "You should go talk to her. Go back and tell her that you don't know what you're feeling, but that there is something there" she stabs his chest with her finger "that wasn't there before"

"I don't want to…mess everything up"

"You won't, I promise" Vanessa says "But you have to be honest with her; you can't just keep punching people to avoid the subject"

Nate and Vanessa seem relieved to see him laugh.

"And if something goes wrong?" he asks

Nate shrugs "I had a great deal on some really good weed. We'll be waiting at the loft for you"

They both give him an encouraging smile, but Vanessa's is slightly crisped. Dan has never felt so grateful in his life.

He leaves them and starts walking back to Blair's building. In front of it, he spots Serena talking or arguing with some guy. He stops and when she sees him, she gives him a nod to tell him she's fine. So Dan keeps walking, hoping she doesn't wonder why he is coming back, and relieved that she doesn't stop him.

Dan's heart pace bangs loudly in his hears in the elevator. He tries to come up with a plan. Is he to just walk in on her and repeat exactly what Vanessa told him to? He doesn't want to lose her, or their friendship, and the more floors the elevator passes, the more he is convinced that it's a bad idea.

But he comes to a point of no return, when the elevator chimes open.

_I think I like you_, he says in his head. It doesn't sound right, not exact.

Dan steps out of the elevator. There is no one else anymore, and the lights are turned off. Perhaps she has gone to bed, he thinks. He is about to turn around when he hears something. Someone. He takes a step forward, silently, then another one, and then it's like the sky falls onto his head.

He turns around this time, and goes back in the elevator, taking his breath. He shuts his eyes, trying to erase the image of Blair on the piano, and Chuck between her legs.

It was a bad idea. Dan doesn't know if the pain coursing through his chest will go away as soon as he would want it to.

The first thing he does when he gets out the building is taking a few deep breaths. It's okay, he thinks. It doesn't matter. He can still be friends with her.

Dan hails for a cab, and when he gets inside and the sound of the city are muffled, he can hear Chuck's voice distinctly, in his memory.

_Whatever is going on between you two, I can destroy it. I know Blair. I know exactly what to do, how to play her. Believe me, I just have to push the right button to have her crawling back to me._

Dan sees himself punching Chuck afterwards, and he realizes how stupid he had been. He was the button. Chuck knew exactly what he was doing the whole time.

Dan waits a few seconds in front of his door before opening it. Nate and Vanessa are sitting on the floor, in front of the couch with some bags of chips and a six pack. Nate's stash is open on the coffee table. Dan fakes a smile, but neither of them buys it. He takes off his jacket and goes to sit next to Vanessa.

"I assume you don't want to talk about it?"

"Yep"

Nate passes him a joint, and a lighter. Dan takes the first drag, and tries to relax.

"Thank you, guys" he says "For…everything, basically. After all that's happened…"

"Yeah, yeah I missed you too, man" Nate says "But you're not getting a hug"

"Not one?" Dan asks.

"Not one"

Vanessa laughs "Come here, Dan. I'll give you one"

He passes the joint to Nate and falls into Vanessa's open arms.

"Come on, Archibald" he hears Vanessa say "You know you want it"

Nate laughs, and takes a final drag before putting down the joint, muttering "Dammit"

He gets closer to them, wrapping his arms around their bodies.

"This feels so wrong" Dan says in a laugh.

There is a knock on the door, and Dan sits up, finding himself to hope it's Blair; but he knows it's not. She never knocks.

"Come in"

The door opens and they see Serena's head passing through the opening. She frowns when she sees their posture.

"There you are" she says, looking at Dan and Nate "What's going on?"

"We were feeling a little down" Nate says, moving away. "Don't worry, we know it's weird"

Serena closes the door behind her. She bites her lip.

"I know neither of you are a member of my fan club, right now, but can I make it weirder and join whatever you had going on there?"

Nate, Vanessa, and Dan debate by looking at each other. Then Dan moves to give her a place next to Vanessa. Serena takes off her shoes, drops her purse and sits down.

"Here we go again" Nate sighs, then he and Dan close tightly their arms around the girls, making them giggle.

There are a few silent seconds, then Serena murmurs "I am done taking bad decisions"

No one asks what she's talking about, but they all nod in agreement.

* * *

_First, please don't hate me. And second, you might not believe me, right now, but I think you're going to like where this story is going next. I do. I'm just going to ask you to trust me on this one._

_;)_

_Love, xo_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi lovelies !_

_Phew, I have sooo many things to say, and I would really like it if you read it._

_First, I have a feeling that some of you might have stopped reading the last chapter right after Dan walks in on Blair and Chuck. Which is not a very good move, because I reveal something that Chuck told Dan and that starts to explain the situation (not completely, but still) so If you haven't read, please go back to do so?_

_Also, I can understand why you guys were upset, but I don't think you should have been surprised. You've seen that I include some parts of the canon in this story (I mean, why else would Juliet still be there?) so the piano sex, how painful was it to reminisce was quite useful to the story._

_Now, you want to give up on it or not, it's your choice. But I'll keep writing._

_Next, I feel like you might have some sort of a trauma from the way Blair turned out to be in the show. Please try to remember that this is a Season 4 AU, and that she hasn't become anything that she is in the canon. Also, please try to remember that you cannot like Dair, if you hate Blair. So give our gal a little chance?_

_Finally, I am not going to lie, some of the comments really stung. I asked you guys to trust me, and obviously, a lot of you didn't. What happened in the last chapter shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, because I had warned you that Dan and Blair weren't going to get romantic anytime soon. And I too, am upset about the way Blair/Dair was treated in the canon. That's why I write fanfictions, to ease my heart into it; but once I start with something I can't just go around and shift it. Everything I write has a purpose._

_Now, if you want to read this chapter, I am very happy; but if you expect a love triangle or Dan being bitter and sleeping with Serena (lol) this ain't gonna happen here. What is going on in this chapter is much more serious than that. It was my chance to do something that the show always refused to do._

_On that note, I whish you a happy reading!_

* * *

Three days after Blair's birthday, Dan opens the door to find her standing on the threshold.

"Hey" he says.

He steps aside to let her in, but she doesn't move. She just looks at him, as if she is trying to find symptoms of an illness.

"Are we okay?" she asks.

"Sure" Dan shrugs "I should be the one asking that; I ruined your birthday, remember?"

He gestures to show her to come in, and Blair takes several steps in, until Dan closes the door behind her.

"I texted you twice, and you never answered"

Dan rubs his arm. She doesn't know what he saw, it's normal from her to be unhinged by the distance he has put between them.

"Sorry, I was busy"

Blair still looks at him suspiciously, then goes to sit on the couch. Dan follows.

"Can we talk?" she asks.

Dan knows she is going to talk about Chuck. He sighs deeply. Blair frowns.

"If you don't want to, I can go away"

"No, Blair stop" Dan holds up a hand to halt her "Brooklyn and drama queen don't go well together" he makes a point of softening his tone before continuing. "Of course I want to talk. What's going on?"

Blair shakes her head "I…I feel terrible"

"What do you mean?" it annoys Dan to ask questions, and pretend he doesn't already know the answer.

Blair thinks for a moment, staring at nothing.

"Are you familiar with the concept of hate sex?" she asks, then.

"You mean you sleeping with Chuck on your piano?"

Blair's body goes stiff, and she widens her eyes. Dan gives a little shrug. He is done pretending; he was never good at it, and less with Blair.

"How do you even know?" she asks, incredulous.

"I went by your place after the party was over. Do you know how many episodes of Dora the Explorer I had to watch to cancel the image from my brain?"

Blair closes her eyes, mortified. She had wanted to tell Dan, to be honest with him. Him having walked in on her and Chuck was less than ideal. She lets herself fall numbly against the couch.

"It wasn't supposed to happen, Humphrey" she whines.

"Didn't stop it from happening"

They stay silent for a moment, both lost into their thoughts.

"He never called me back" she says "I have officially become one of his whores"

"No you're not" Dan shakes his head "You're his ex-girlfriend, the only girl that could ever drive him to insanity"

Dan doesn't really know what he's saying. With Blair, he is always balancing between saying just the right thing, and just the wrong. But she doesn't react.

"Did you even want him to call you back?" he asks. He dreads a bit the answer.

"No. Yes. But only to tell him to go to hell. I feel like crap"

"Hope the sex was worth it"

Dan knows he sounds bitter, but he can't help it. He doesn't understand how someone as smart as Blair can get herself into those kinds of situation. He wants to be her friend, but he doesn't want to blindly accept everything she does, especially if it hurts her. He wants her to be like she was in Paris. Soft, serene, and carefree.

"He smelled like alcohol" Blair mutters, more to herself. She turns to him. "Is it weird that I'm talking to you about this?" she asks, almost in a whisper.

Dan shakes slowly his head "You can talk to me about anything, Blair. I mean it. I… I care about you"

She takes his hand in hers, and presses it, before releasing it.

"I care about you too, you know" she says "Even if I have odd ways of showing it like bossing you around, and making fun of your hair. Seriously, you should cut it already. Or do you need me to drag you to the barber shop again?"

Dan laughs. She always pulls him back in. And by insulting him. Who is this girl?

"I was going to call you back" he says "I never gave you your birthday gift"

Blair claps happily. Dan goes to his room, and comes back with two tickets.

"Nénette is showing at Film Forum, next month" he says "I got us tickets"

Blair takes the one he hands her. She thinks of their time in Paris, at the Jardin, and at the museum, and at the wine tasting.

"I love it" she says.

She stands up, taking her purse with her.

"I have to go. Thank you for listening to me"

"Sure" Dan gets closer to her, and strokes her cheek. He likes the way her eyelashes flutter slightly, when his thumb is on her skin "Will you be okay?"

Blair doesn't answer right away. She seems to hesitate, and it gives Dan time to take a decision. He isn't going to let Blair fall back into this awful loop, with Chuck and everything that comes with. He is going to put an end to this, one way or another. He wants to help her.

Blair takes his hand away from her cheek, but keeps it in hers.

"I don't know" she finally answers "But I need to start to be"

She gets on the tip of her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"See you around, Humphrey"

X

When Blair gets into a cab, she tells the driver to take her to the NYU dorms, hoping she isn't going to regret what she is about to do. She laughs at herself. She must be desperate.

She smiles when she passes in front of her old room, wonders what kind of person is living in it now. Then she stops at the door at the end of the hallway, and knocks.

Vanessa looks utterly shocked to see her.

"Yes?" she asks.

"I need to talk to you" Blair says, figuring that being upfront is her only option "I can't talk about it to Nate, and I can't talk to Dan and I can't talk to Serena because…"

"It's about Dan" Vanessa sighs, understanding where Blair is going.

Blair nods "Amongst other things, yes."

Vanessa takes her jacket, and closes the door behind her.

"I'm gonna need coffee"

They go together to a coffee shop, and sit at a table in a corner.

Blair pours her heart out. Once she starts talking, she cannot stop. She probably picked it up from Humphrey. She knows she must look hysterical, but everything comes in one flow. Sometimes she laughs, sometimes she tears up and she just _keeps talking_.

Vanessa is a good listener. She doesn't open her mouth once, but Blair can see in her eyes that she listens, certainly taking mental notes on what advice to give her afterward. When Blair pauses for half a minute, hand tight around the coffee mug, Vanessa talks.

"Your life is a mess" she says.

"Thank you for the insight"

Blair doesn't regret her biting tone, and Vanessa doesn't look vexed, anyway.

"So Chuck found out about you and Dan, kept accusing you of having an affair, and so you had sex with him to prove him the contrary"

Blair nods slightly. Vanessa sighs.

"I'm sorry, Blair but…wasn't there any other way?"

Blair shrugs "Everything gets easier with Chuck, when it's about sex. I just didn't want him to go after Dan like he went after me"

"What you're telling me here is very serious, Blair"

"I know" Blair takes a sip of coffee, hoping it would fuel strength "I think…I think Chuck might have a problem. A problem with me. Remember last year, when I broke up with him and I came to you and Dan because…"

"Yeah, the dating fatwa" Vanessa nods "That should have been the first sign"

"There is something else" Blair says "Dan saw us, that night"

A light of comprehension passes on Vanessa's face.

"He saw you having sex" she says.

Again with the puzzle face. Blair looks at her, thinking that Vanessa might know a lot of things that she doesn't.

"Do you know what Chuck told Dan?" Vanessa asks, then.

Blair frowns. "What?"

"Well Dan didn't punch him out of the blue. Chuck told him something, but Dan refused to repeat it to us. Do you know?"

Blair is taken aback. Vanessa is right, Dan wouldn't have lost his temper so easily. She probably just got used to seeing him punch Chuck.

"No. I don't."

"We should find out" Vanessa says "As for you, try to stay away from Chuck as much as possible. I have a bad feeling about this."

X

Dan wants to walk to The Empire, to talk to Chuck. But he doesn't trust himself not to break his jaw again. So instead, he paces a few minutes around the kitchen, his mind pounded by the memory of Chuck's words.

_Whatever is going on between you two, I can destroy it. I know Blair. I know exactly what to do, how to play her. Believe me, I just have to push the right button to have her crawling back to me_

It's the last thing that convinces him to pick up the phone. The call reaches the voicemail, which doesn't really surprise Dan because he figures Chuck has caller ID. So he tries again, several times. Chuck answers at his fifth tentative.

"I'm filing for a restraining order" he says as he picks up.

Dan's jaw clenches. Just the sound of his voice is enough to make him want to break the first thing that comes to his hands.

"Good" he says "You do that, and stay away from Blair in the meantime"

Chuck stays silent for a few moments.

"She told you. Are you jealous?"

Dan can practically hear the smirk on his face.

"Yes, she told me. Contrary to someone else, she chose to trust me, I didn't have to have her followed to find out"

"Whatever you say, Humphrey. All I hear is you admitting defeat. You see, you can't win against me. You can't even compete."

"You're competing with yourself, Chuck. Blair isn't a prize. She is someone who deserves better than everything you've been making her go through"

"She's the one who keeps coming after me, Humphrey."

"Because she doesn't know better"

"And let me guess, you're willing to teach her?"

Dan takes his time to answer.

"Perhaps I am"

"You're delusional. It's sad, but I think you might really need help."

"Forget about me. It's you we're talking about, here" Dan takes a deep breath, ready to cross the bridge "I still have the story about how Bass Industries is responsible for a death. I never broke it, but I might"

The other end remains silent, but the crispy sound of the communication indicates Dan that Chuck is still there. It fuels confidence through him.

"There is no evidence" Chuck finally says.

"Since when do the tabloids care about evidence? That little business of yours will be tarnished. And losing Blair by trading her for it will have been for nothing. Let that sink in for a few seconds, and then, stay the hell away from her."

"This isn't over, Humphrey"

Dan doesn't answer, and hangs up. His hands are a bit sweaty, but in his stomach, there is a small pit of satisfaction. So this is what scheming feels like. He takes a little time for himself to process the fact that he just blackmailed someone.

He finds himself not regretting it.

The day following the phone call, Chuck sends Dan an invitation to one of his fancy parties. The theme is Saint and Sinners. Dan understands that Chuck is not done playing with his nerves, and it feels like a war is preparing. Dan doesn't dread it.

He's ready to take all the risks.

X

"Are you going to go to Chuck's party?" Serena asks Blair over breakfast.

Blair casually turns the page of her newspaper.

"I had no intention of it. Are you?"

Serena shrugs "Of course. Nate and I are going to stop by"

Blair puts down her newspaper "You're going with Nate?" she asks, one of her eyebrows rose.

Serena avoids all eye contact "Well, yes. We're going as friends. You can come with us, if you want"

"I don't think it's a good idea. For me nor you"

"Nate and I are just friends, Blair" Serena sighs, she seems annoyed.

"You and Nate are _never_ just friends. I should know"

Serena narrows her eyes, and just keeps eating.

The night of the party, Blair plans herself an evening full of activities not to think about it. A nice bath with a box of macaroons, a gourmet diner specially delivered and a movie. She also plans on finishing the wine Nate got her for her birthday.

As Dorota goes around ordering everything, Blair sits casually on the couch with a book. She tries not to look up from it to her cellphone. She could call Dan. She chose to watch _Rear Window_, and she thinks he might like it. They haven't seen each other since she stopped by his place and he gave her the Nénette ticket.

She decides against it, ultimately. The painful realization comes that she doesn't know how to act around him anymore. She refuses to get tendered by his smile and his sweetness and she really doesn't get why he always has to be _so nice._

Blair almost jumps when her phone beeps. She reaches to it, ignoring the disappointment when she sees that it's only a Gossip Girl blast.

Dan is at the party with Eric. Gossip Girl makes some snarky comment about how he and Chuck are probably getting ready for another showdown. Blair can't help thinking that there might be a bit of unrealized truth behind that.

"Dorota! Cancel everything!" she puts down the book, and goes to grab her coat "There is somewhere I need to be"

Dorota arrives, the house phone still in her hand.

"Miss Blair, where you going?"

Blair thinks quickly. It's a masquerade and she doesn't have a costume. She pushes the straps of her dress and lets it fall on the floor, remaining in her red slip. She is so going to regret this.

"Straight to hell, with the other sinners"

Her trench coat wrapped around her, she leaves the penthouse under the stunned eyes of Dorota.

X

The first person she spots at the party is Serena, who's wearing a clear blue dress. Blair can't help but snort under the irony. Serena is standing with Nate and…Vanessa? Blair rolls her eyes. Nowhere is safe anymore, she thinks, Brooklynites are viciously making their way in.

Her eyes roam over the crowd, and finally make their way up. Her breath gets trapped when her glare locks directly with Chuck's standing on a balcony above everyone else, position high and royal, and staring down at her. He has no expression on his face, but he has a glass in his hand.

"Blair?"

She turns around swiftly, and she immediately recognizes Dan, even though he is wearing a mask. Without her real consent, her hand goes to rest on his shoulder.

"Hi" she says "Of course you would consider yourself a saint" she glances at his grey suit.

Dan chuckles. She can see his eyes behind the mask travel upon her.

"I don't think your choice of outfit is much of a surprise either"

There is a still moment, when he smiles at her and she just looks back. She feels like an idiot. Dan's hand takes hers resting on his shoulder, his other settles on her lower back; he starts moving them slightly around, and Blair follows, unaware of their decalage with the music filling the room.

"Listen, Blair" Dan says, leaning close so she can hear him "About Chuck. I don't think you'll hear from him anymore"

Blair realizes with a shiver that she is dancing with Dan, while Chuck is probably looking at them. She chooses to ignore it, for now.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"I talked to him. I told him that you were better off without him"

Blair stares blankly, and Dan's throat tightens.

"It's what you wanted, right?"

Blair wants to answer that he's wrong, that she never wanted him to get caught in her grotesque story with Chuck. But at the moment, all she can see is him waiting for a validation. As it doesn't come, Dan starts apologizing.

"I wanted to help you, that's all" he says "I don't want you to feel like…you owe him, or that you're stuck or I don't know"

"It's fine, Humphrey" Blair says, her voice barely audible. "It's fine"

Dan nods, pushing a sigh of relief. There's the smile again, and Blair just wants to kiss it, so perhaps it'll make her own lips match it. She controls herself. Everyone they know is at that party. However, she can't help glancing furtively around to check –actually check, implying forethought of something she might regret –if Serena is around. She can't see her anywhere.

It won't stop it from reaching Gossip Girl, though, if someone sees them.

"Are you okay?" she hears him, but it's like he's miles away.

It's enough to break her trail of thoughts, though. Blair looks back at him, and that's when she realizes: he's wearing a mask.

"You look a little pa…" her lips kill the rest of his sentence.

Blair is glad that Dan is quick on the reaction, and in the most delicious way. She wonders if he has wanted to kiss her too. His hand on her back pulls her closer to him, and the kisses are open-mouthed, kind of rushed and require so much energy that they have to break it every five seconds to catch air, before diving back in.

Dan starts walking backwards, never leaving her lips, until his back hits a wall and they are standing in a darker corner. The kiss softens. Dan reaches to cup her cheek, and Blair rests her hand on his. It's like living in another world, and breathing another kind of hair. His thumb on her cheek feels like silk; his lips on hers move slightly, a hundred micro-kisses meddling into one. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, it occurs to Blair that this is Humphrey. Another part of her replies: _of course, it is._

It feels like a natural end when they break apart. Dan reaches toward his face to lift the mask up, and Blair stops him.

"What?" he asks

"Someone could recognize you"

They are supposed to be out of sight, now. But Blair cannot bring herself to look up to see if Chuck can still see them; if he is still looking at them. She takes Dan's hand and presses an awkward kiss on his fingers.

"I have to go" she says

"What? Where?"

"I have to go talk to Chuck"

"Okay, Blair, wait just a second" he takes her wrist to stop her from moving "You kiss me like that, and then you tell me you have to go talk to Chuck. How many times, do you think, until I actually get tired of it?"

Blair takes back her hand "You'll just have to trust me, Humphrey."

"Yeah, I'm not really in the habit of doing that" he tries to pull her closer "I told you I took care of it"

"There is just one thing I need to tell him" one of her hand strokes his cheek "I'll call you later"

Dan watches her go; he doesn't think he has ever felt this clueless in his life. He stays for a few minutes standing, slightly unbalanced. Eric is nowhere to be seen, and Dan realizes that he doesn't have anything to do here. Perhaps Chuck was right. Perhaps Blair is always the one going back to him.

As he leaves, Dan bumps into Serena. She doesn't recognize him until he gets rid of the mask. He takes in her slightly red nose and eyes. Dan doesn't ask what's wrong, because he knows Serena; if she wanted to talk about it, she would. She shrugs off her sorrow and suggest they go to a bar to drink, and asks if he would take her home afterwards. Dan thinks for one second, then accepts, hoping some vodka would eradicate the taste of Blair from his lips. But he knows it won't.

X

Blair waits so long at The Empire, that she almost gives up. But every time she moves toward the exit, she ends up going back to sit on the couch. She doesn't think she's ever been so determined in her life. A thousand possible scenarios go through her head. She imagines him finding her there, and thinking she is coming back to him. She imagines his reaction, broken and shattered when she tells him that it's finally over. She knows she should not feel this way, but it breaks her heart to know that she is about to break his. She doesn't like to have that kind of power over someone's sentiments. But using it is the only way she has to break the both of them free.

She hears the elevator open, and sits up on the couch. Chuck comes in. He stops for a second when he sees her.

"I don't want you here" he says, moving toward his bar.

Blair stands up "I have something to say, and you need to listen"

"If it's about how you made a mistake by thinking Humphrey was a possible choice, I don't need to hear it"

"It's not" Blair swallows "You were right. I like him, and as more than a friend"

Chuck pours himself a drink, and that breaks Blair's heart too. She is starting to realize that she might not be his only problem. She gets eaten by the guilt of pushing Eva to go away. Chuck had been right, when he said that Eva made him a better person, and that Blair never could. All she did was bringing him to his darkest side. And she is resolute to fix this.

"Chuck, I want to apologize, for the pain I've caused you. But you can't let me drive you to such extremities. You can be better than this"

Chuck turns to her. She doesn't like the glint in his eyes. He takes a step forward, and she takes one backward.

"You know what I can't stand about you, Blair?" he asks "You always made it seem like you were the better person, in our relationship"

"I never…"

"I was the one who always believed in us. I believed that we could go through anything. And you gave up on us, when it became a little too hard"

All guilt and resolution of easing the situation goes away in Blair. She is left with blunt hatred, and disappointment.

"Trading me for a hotel wasn't an obstacle, Chuck. You used me! I am not going to give up on my dignity, even for you"

"I've never asked you anything, Blair. I just had to plant the idea, and you're the one who let it bloom" he steps forward again, and this time, Blair doesn't retreat "You're fooling yourself, if you think that Humphrey, or anyone else is a better match for you"

"Thinking that you were the only one for me, that's was when I was fooling myself"

Chuck walks, and soon he is just in front of her.

"You will never be with anyone else" he says in a stiff whisper. "You're mine"

Blair shakes her head "I wanted to be. I wanted it so bad. But you made that impossible. You never let me in. And now, it's time for me to find someone who does. Goodbye, Chuck"

Blair turns around to leave, and then, everything happens so fast. She hears his glass hitting the carpet, then his hand is around her wrist, and he pushes her on the couch, almost falling over her. Blair's breath gets trapped in her lungs, and his grass around her feels like a burn.

"You're hurting me, Chuck!" she says

His hold softens a bit, and Blair looks him in the eyes. She doesn't recognize him.

"It's over, Chuck. It's over for good"

Chuck's fingers tighten again around her, and his other hand forms into a fist, and breaks the glass wall over her head, pulling a short cry out of her. Blair closes her eyes, because she though the hit was going to land on her. When she opens them again, she can feel a stinging line on her cheek.

He is breathing heavily, and all strength seems to have left his body. Blair takes advantage of it to push him off her, and runs to the elevator. When it closes on her, before he has the time to follow her, she starts breathing again.

Her head is heavy, her vision is blurry. She thinks she is shaking, but she is not sure. It gets harder and harder to remain standing up.

When the elevator opens again, she finds Nate and Vanessa waiting for it. His arms are around her waist, and she is laughing, while he puts a kiss on her cheek. They both turn, and they both have this awkward, busted look on their faces when they see her. Then Nate takes in the cut on her cheek.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

Blair wants to walk pass them, and forget everything. But when she takes the first step, she finds that her legs can't support her anymore. Her knees go weak, and Vanessa catches her just in time, sitting on the floor with her to soften the fall. Nate crouches down next to them. Blair feels his soothing hand on her back, and Vanessa's soft hold around her, and she breaks.

X

"I can't believe this"

Dan watches Serena pacing around her living room. He had just taken her home, when Nate and Vanessa arrived, holding a sobbing Blair between them. Now they're all sitting, Blair staring at the window with a cup of tea in her hand. They are all trying to process the story she just told them. She stayed evasive.

_I went to talk to him, and he didn't like what I had to say._

But she hadn't needed to say much more, for them to understand that Chuck was at the bottom of the cut on her face.

"This is…" Serena starts, then stops "What are we supposed to do, now?"

"We should go to the police" Dan says.

They all turn to him, except Blair, who keeps looking out the window.

"Come on, Dan…" Serena says

"That's what he deserves" Dan shrugs "We can't keep protecting him."

"You want me to go to the police, and say that my adoptive brother assaulted my best friend?" Serena shakes her head "Think about my mom"

"Think about Blair!" Dan replies, pointing at Blair "She is clearly never going to do it, we've seen this before. Someone needs to put an end to this"

This time, Blair does turn to look at him. She doesn't say anything, but her eyes are on him, and she doesn't blink.

"I'm just gonna go talk to him. I need to hear what he has to say" Serena puts her jacket back on.

"I don't know if it's a good idea" Nate says

"I don't care. This has gone too far"

Serena goes to hug Blair, whisper in her hair that she'll be back soon. They all let her go. Dan feels more in rage than ever. Blair is still looking at him.

"I won't allow you to judge me, Dan"

It strikes Dan that she uses his first name. That sentence was the kind that required the use of a dry _Humphrey_; devoid of familiarity, and full of distance. But she says _Dan_, and he doesn't know what to do with that.

"I am not judging you" he says "I am just pointing out the fact that when it comes to Chuck, you don't seem to be in capacity to fully think"

"I could say the same with you and Serena" she pauses, then adds "Before"

"I told you not to go" Dan shakes his head "I told you not to get into that. I told you I had taken care of everything. And look at what happened"

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Humphrey"

There it is. Humphrey.

Blair stands up, putting down her cup. "I'm tired. I trust that you can all see yourselves out"

She goes up the stairs with any other words. Nate and Vanessa turn to Dan.

"What is wrong with you?" Vanessa asks him "You're acting like a douche"

"I warned her!" Dan says "It's not my fault she didn't listen"

"Oh, Dan, come on!" Vanessa throws her arms in the air "I can't believe I'm saying this but, I'm with Blair on this one. She likes you, and she wanted to protect you. Everything that's happened between her and Chuck for the past few days, was to protect you"

Dan stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"What do you mean, she likes me?"

Vanessa looks at him pointedly "She likes you, likes you. But what's going on with Chuck is much more bigger than her mild crush on you. She needed to take care of it, on her own. And she tried so hard to find the right methods. She is right, when she says that she doesn't need you to fight her battle against Chuck. And if you can't understand that, then I'm sorry, but you're no better than him"

Dan frowns "I think you're taking it a little bit too far"

"Am I?" Vanessa asks, moving to the elevator "I'm going home, see you"

"We should go too" Nate tells Dan, rubbing his eyes.

Dan shakes his head "Go. I'm gonna say goodnight to Blair"

Nate sighs, looks like he is about to protest, then gives up. He pats Dan on the shoulder and joins Vanessa in the elevator. Dan hears them giggle right when the doors close. He stays still for an instant, then shrugs. He'll have time to ask them about that later.

Blair doesn't answer when he knocks on her door, but he pushes it anyway. She is lying under her covers, eyes still open. When she sees him, she turns around. Dan sighs.

"I'm sorry, Blair. I should have tried to understand"

She doesn't reply. Dan looks at her back for a few seconds. Right when he thinks of turning around and leaving, he sees her move to the opposite side of the bed. Dan isn't sure if what he understands is what he should, but he goes for it, removing his jacket and his shoes.

With very careful movements, he lifts the cover and slips underneath it. Blair doesn't turn around, but moves backward, closer to him. Dan puts an arm under his head, and the other one on her hip.

"I'm sorry" he whispers.

"Shut up"

He pulls her closer to him, and does shut up. He knows she is crying, figures the only thing he can do, the only thing he has to do at this point, is to be there. He doesn't move until her breathing steadies in a regular, soft snore. Then he goes to her door, locks it before going back to take his position. He just doesn't want to have to explain anything to Serena, if she were to find them.

When the morning light peeking through the window wakes up Blair, the first thing she is aware of is the empty spot next to her.

X

Dan meets Nate in front of The Empire pretty early in the morning. Nate gives him a light smile, then leads the way upstairs. They find Chuck sitting in the living room, wearing a robe and drinking scotch. When Chuck sees Dan, he seems to be ready to kick him out himself but Nate stops him. He makes Chuck sit back on the couch, and settles for the coffee table, looking straight at him. Dan stands in a corner of a living room, hoping he won't regret coming.

"Listen, man, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while" Nate says "And after what happened yesterday, I think I've postponed this enough"

"Just get Hum Drum Humphrey out of here"

"Dan is here, because believe it or not, he is concerned too"

Nate turns to Dan for some kind of encouragement. Dan clears his throat.

"It's true" he says, but it still sounds like a lie "Whatever happened between us, I care about Lily. And it would crush her to see what you've become"

"And what exactly have I become? Tell me, Saint Humphrey"

Nate cuts in the exchange "Chuck, it's nine in the morning, and you're already drinking. This isn't the way to cope with whatever you need to deal with. I'm here to suggest you to get some help"

"The only reason you're here today, it's because they've brainwashed you, and turned you against me"

"No one is against you, Chuck" Nate shakes his head "At least not yet. But if you refuse to see that there is something wrong here, I'm sorry, I will give up on you. I'll move out, and you'll never see me again"

Chuck downs his glass "Who else are you planning to take away from me?" he asks Dan.

"Forget about Dan and Blair, okay?" Nate holds his hand up to stop Dan from answering "This is only about you. You need help, Chuck. It's not the first time I've told you, but it is going to be the last."

Chuck doesn't answer. Dan sees him glancing furtively to the bar. Nate sees it too.

"I've been your friend for about fifteen years. I wouldn't tell you all of this if I didn't think you needed to hear it"

Chuck remains silent. This time, his eyes are on his empty glass. Dan sees Nate relax. He wonders if Chuck's body language just gave out something that he didn't understand.

"Do you want me to call the center?" Nate asks softly.

Chuck is still for a few seconds, then shakes his head "Don't bother. I'll do it myself"

Nate nods, and puts a supportive hand on Chuck's shoulder.

"You're gonna be alright, man" he says "Thank you for listening. I know it seems like we were all on your back, with Serena yesterday and me today"

"What do you mean?" Chuck frowns, still not looking Nate in the eyes.

"When Serena came to talk to you yesterday, after…after what happened"

"I never saw Serena last night. The last person I saw was Blair."

Dan steps away from the wall he is leaning on, and exchanges a glance with Nate.

"If Serena didn't come to see you" Nate says "Where did she go?"

Chuck shrugs, looking up, sensing that something might be wrong. Dan speculates in his mind for a second, before being jarred by his phone. It's Rufus.

"Dad, I can't talk right now" he answers.

"Wait, Dan. Something happened. It's Serena."

X

The following days are the most stressful Dan has lived since Milo was born.

Serena and Chuck check into The Ostroff Center on the same day, leaving an emotionally disheveled Lily. Everyone is tensed, and soon, they separate into two groups: Dan and Eric, who think that Serena's overdose conditions are still a bit blurry; Blair and Lily who just can't get out of their heads the memory of Serena's past.

Nate and Rufus are the only ones who remain impartial, and consider that whatever happened, being at the center won't harm Serena, at least.

Dan argues with Blair about Serena, and he doesn't like it.

"You've known her as a girl coming home, trying for a fresh start. To me, this sounds a lot like the Serena I knew" she tells him.

Dan thinks it's bullshit. He tells everyone that they simply refuse to give her a chance. When even Eric gives up, Dan sees that he has no other choice than to talk to Serena himself.

He pushes the door of her room open. She is lying on her bed, reading a magazine, looking more miserable than ever.

"What happened?" he asks.

Serena shrugs "Honestly, I don't know. I don't remember anything. Overdose tends to do that to you"

Dan doesn't know if she's joking, so he keeps quiet.

"I remember leaving the penthouse, and going to see Chuck. Next thing I know, I'm alone in a motel room and a picture of me doing lines is on the internet."

Dan nods. If Serena doesn't even know what happened to her, there is no possible way he can help her.

"What were you crying about, before we went to the bar?" he asks, hoping for some sort of clue.

Serena shifts uncomfortably on the bed.

"It's just that…Colin and I ended, and here I was, spending the night with Nate and Vanessa being way too friendly to each other. I guess it made me realized everything good that I had screwed up in my life"

It's a bit awkward for a few seconds. Their relationship naturally falls into those things that she considers having screwed up. However, Dan nods again, and pats her on the knee.

"I can help you escape, you know" he says. He smiles when he sees her laugh in spite of herself "Seriously, I think you would pull off being a fugitive"

"Thanks, but I think I'm good here. It'll give me time to think, at least"

"Alright"

Serena reaches to squeeze his hand in hers "Thank you, Dan. For believing me"

"You really should try it sometimes. You might be surprised"

He leaves her room, and runs into Blair in the hallway. She is carrying a pot of orchids.

"What are you doing here?" she asks

"Supporting a friend. Since no one else will"

They stare at each other for a while, both refusing to look away and loose the silent fight. Eventually, Dan gives up and brushes past her.

"I'm going home" he mutters.

"Whatever you think you know, or understand, you're wrong" Blair says.

Dan doesn't answer, and just keeps walking.

It's already night and he is lying on his bed, eyes open, thoughts busy when he hears the front door open. He can't stop relief taking him over. He knows who it is; she never knocks.

Dan doesn't move until he sees Blair pushing his door open. She turns the light on, and he sits on his bed.

"Aren't you tired of playing gloomy artist?" she tilts her head to the side, playful.

"It gets addictive, over the years"

Her smile fades slowly, and she is left looking at him like she is seeing him for the first time in years.

"How do you do it?" she asks

"You just have to turn off the lights and lay on your bed"

Blair laughs again. She goes to take a seat on the edge of his bed.

"Not the gloomy artist thing. I meant how are you always so trusting?"

Dan thinks for a moment "It gets addictive, over the years"

Blair looks down. Her fingers pinch his sheet nervously for a second, before she can gather the courage to touch his.

"I'm about to say something that I will only say once" she looks up to him "So you better listen"

Dan weaves their fingers together, and it's there, in her stomach, the tingling.

"Go for it" he says.

Blair pushes out an exaggerated sigh "You were right" her fingers leave his to reach into her purse and take out a costume mask "Nate went to give Juliet back her stuff, and discovered her apartment actually belonged to a much older couple. So he and Vanessa investigated, kind of broke into the real apartment, and they found this. It's the mask Serena is wearing in the picture on Gossip Girl. Only…"

"She wasn't wearing a mask that night" Dan nods, understanding.

"I have no intention of letting it go. And I'll need your help"

Dan chuckles "Blair Waldorf needs my help for a scheme?"

She shrugs "Things change. I did. Look at me, I'm in Brooklyn, talking to Dan Humphrey"

He laughs, sitting right next to her on the bed. She feels her heart pace quicken.

"But right now, we're going to have to forget any kind of…evolution"

Dan frowns, hoping she doesn't mean what he understands. He cannot keep going back and forth with her.

"What do you mean?"

"Serena was the first thing we ever had in common. We are going to get back to vintage Humphrey and Waldorf"

She moves her head closer to his, looking down to his lips. So much for vintage Waldorf.

"So, what do you say we find this bitch and give our friend justice?"

She sees the smallest of smirks on his face, before he tilts his head, pressing a quick, soft kiss on her lips.

"I'm in" he says "Show me how it's done, Waldorf"

* * *

_Okay, so next chapter is supposed to be the last one. The thing is, I am unsure if I should continue this fic, or write what I imagines happening after as a sequel. Tell me what you think about it, but I am more enclines to the sequel thing._

_Anyway, you guys have a Merry Christmas, and I love you all!_

_xo_


	8. Chapter 8

_Hi lovelies ! So this is the last chapter of La Bohème. I decided on ending it here, and continuing with a sequel because I feel like the general theme will be changing. So look out for the sequel, which I've already named and will be just like this one, Daircentric with canon parallels._

_Don't know when I'll be starting on it, though._

_Hope you enjoy this one! _

* * *

Blair fixes her hair over one shoulder before folding her hands down on her lap, sitting straight on her little ottoman and smiling sweetly at Vanessa on the couch. She clears her throat.

"How is the coffee?"

Vanessa shoots her a suspicious glare, and takes another sip from her cup.

"It's excellent, really" she says "Very strong, but sweet on the taste"

Blair's smile widens more "I'm glad. It's a brand from South America, I can get you some if you'd like"

Vanessa puts down the cup "Blair…you don't have to go through all of this" she says "If you want to ask me something, just do it"

Blair's smile freezes slightly, and her body stiffens.

"I do want to ask you something. But it's not the kind of things I would have ever imagined myself asking, so I need to remind myself, by any way possible, that I am still me"

Vanessa frowns "Does any of this have something to do with Dan?"

Blair ducks her head, swallowing.

"This is…incredible" Vanessa sighs "What do you want to know?"

Once the question is up in the air, and there is no more pretending, Blair isn't quite sure anymore of what to ask. There are just so many things that she never bothered to know about Humphrey, and now, wondering if he prefers chocolate or fucking vanilla keeps her up at night, sometimes. She wonders if there is a kind of cologne he likes to wear, if there is a band that holds a sentimental value.

"I want to…" Blair's throat goes dry, she swallows again "I want to know…what he likes"

"As in food? Movies? Music?"

Yes, all of that, Blair wants to know. But it's not what she is asking at the moment. She bites her cheek, cursing Vanessa for not being a little bit more perceptive.

"As in…what he likes…in a…girl"

Vanessa grins a little and Blair can see she knew the question from the start; she just wanted to have Blair say it out loud.

"Dan doesn't really have a type" Vanessa shrugs "You just have to look at his past to see. What do you, me, Serena and Georgina have in common? Nothing, not in looks and definitely not in personalities"

Blair rolls her eyes "Well then, how can I know if he likes me?"

Vanessa thinks for a second "Usually, he lets you know. He is pretty upfront. Just be yourself, okay?"

Blair sighs, getting up to grab the porcelain cup from Vanessa's hands.

"Well that was a waste of fine coffee. Listen, I don't mean to rush you out…"

"Sure you don't" Vanessa says, getting up

"…but Dan is going to be here soon, and I don't want him seeing you here"

Vanessa leaves and Blair goes up to her room. She stands in front of her mirror, brushes her hair a bit, puts back on some lip gloss, opens a book, doesn't read it, closes it, brushes her hair again, changes top and…

"Dammit!" she whines, falling on her bed, face buried in her pillow.

X

Dan is summoned at Lily and Rufus's to sign a "Get Well Soon" card for Serena and Chuck. He doesn't dare point out to Lily that Chuck and Serena's conditions are a bit more serious than the flu or appendicitis.

He thinks of telling them about Juliet for a moment, then decides against it. Blair said she had a plan, and he trusts her.

When Dan sits at the breakfast table and takes in Eric's miserable face, he feels guilty. He is the only sibling that Eric has left and that didn't have a mental breakdown, and he hasn't been really present for him. It's the only reason why he lingers after breakfast, instead of heading straight to Blair's.

"Listen" he presses Eric's shoulder "I know things seem a bit out of hand, but it'll be fixed soon"

"I don't know" Eric shakes his head "I've seen this with Serena before. She seems better once she gets out of the center, but you actually never know with her."

Dan glances around, checking if their parents are nearby, before leaning in to whisper.

"It wasn't Serena on the picture. This girl, Juliet has a vendetta against your sister. But Blair and I are going to fix it"

"Are you sure?" Eric asks in the same tone.

Dan nods, and straightens up when Rufus walks by. Eric crosses his arms.

"I believe you, because I don't think you would pair up with Blair if it wasn't worth it"

Dan laughs a little, popping a raisin in his mouth "Blair and I are friends, actually. Haven't you seen the gossip Girl blast at Chuck's charity?"

"I figured she knew something that you didn't want to be out"

"Plausible" Dan nods, the hint of a smile on his lips "She's not that bad, once you get to know her, you know. She's intelligent, she's intuitive, she weeps when she watches Nights of Cabiria" Dan lets out a small chuckle "You know, she has this obsession with Cedric, it's like every time she comes over, it's the first thing she thinks about, it's really…"

Dan trails off, because he sees Eric's raised eyebrows. Which Dan finds completely understandable when his own voice rings out in his memory. He was basically a groupie. He clears his throat.

"I'm gonna go"

"Do you like her?" Eric asks at the same time.

Dan stares at his step-brother for a few seconds. There is no point to denying anything now. Except for the part where he and Blair haven't really talked about anything, and Dan doesn't need another person knowing about their relationship, since they don't know what is their relationship.

"She's nothing more than a friend" he says, his throat a bit tight.

"So you didn't answer my question, and the fact that you add _nothing more than_ leads me to believe something happened. Did something happen?"

Eric has an amused frown on his forehead, probably because Dan feels uncomfortable and it must show.

"Okay, we kissed" Dan whispers "But as I already told Nate, and Vanessa, and Chuck, it meant nothing"

"I'm sorry, how many people know about this?" Eric was genuinely laughing "Is it supposed to be a secret?"

"It's not a secret, because it meant nothing"

"Then why did you whisper, and why wasn't Serena's name in the list of people who know?"

Touché. Dan freezes for a few seconds, unable to come up for a decent counter-argument. Eric is way too smart to use the same excuses that didn't even work on Nate and Vanessa.

"Okay, perhaps it's a secret" Dan says slowly, still working on a deviation as he speaks "But it doesn't mean that I like her"

"Doesn't it?"

Eric seems to be enjoying this conversation way too much.

"It doesn't" Dan says firmly. Then, because the lie sounds so obvious even to him, he adds with a shrug that is meant to look casual "I mean, she does smell nice…"

"Oh my God! You are ass-backwards crushing on Blair Waldorf!"

Eric is hitting the table out of laughter, leaving Dan sitting in his own bitterness upon being busted. Is he that obvious? When he Skypes with Jenny, does she see on his forehead that he made out with Blair Waldorf and that he might be developing feelings for her?

Dan finally leaves, and Eric is still laughing when he walks him to the elevator. He rushes the three blocks to Blair's building, because it's been two days since they saw each other, and he thinks he can get at least a five minutes make out session before she gets to the scheming part.

The last person he expects to see leaving Blair's building is Vanessa.

"No way" Dan says, causing Vanessa to turn around. She sighs when she sees him "Are you and Blair breakfast buddies now? Is it time get ready for the apocalypse?"

Vanessa holds a finger in the air "First of all, don't even try, we used all of our best apocalyptic jokes on you and Blair. Second, I just needed to ask her something"

"What?" Dan's grin cannot fade.

"None of your business"

"So you and Blair have secrets now?" Dan nods "It sounds like something BFFs do"

Vanessa rests her hands on her hips "I needed the name of her gyneco…"

"See you later" Dan rushes into the building before he can hear the end.

X

Dan finds Blair lying on her bed, her face buried in her pillow, mumbling something into it.

He quietly gets rid of his coat and shoes, and starts crawling on her bed, warning her of his presence. She turns on her back and seems surprised to see him.

"Hey" he says "Are you okay?"

"Sure" Blair clears her throat "I expected you a bit later"

"I figured, since you never told me about your secret meeting with Vanessa"

Blair's eyes go round for a second. Then Dan sees her trying to regain composure.

"What did she say she was here for?"

"Don't worry" he waves his hand, dismissing the subject "She told me about the…lady-parts doctor stuff"

Blair bites the inside of her cheek. _Really, Abrams? _She doesn't know if she should by annoyed by Vanessa's terrible lying skills, or Dan's childish refusal to say the actual word.

She gets distracted when Dan leans down to kiss her cheek, then her jaw, then behind her ear.

"I've been thinking about kissing you for days" he whispers against her skin.

Blair closes her eyes, trying not to look too smug. She tilts her chin slightly up. Dan smirks, getting the message, brushes his lips gently against hers before kissing her, for real.

Blair feels guilty, but she is actually glad that Serena is at the center because now, she and Dan can roll over her bed as much as she likes, without fear of being interrupted or busted. They do it for hours, when they have the chance. Sometimes they stop to grab a bite or watch a movie, but they always end up their lips pressed together.

The situation isn't ideal, though; Blair is aware. They haven't talked, which she finds unusual for Humphrey. But she doesn't think she really needs it, because of the way he looks at her, and the way his fingers wrap softly around her wrist.

When Dan starts to linger a bit too much on her collarbone, it takes a lot of strength and will for her to halt him.

"Okay, Humphrey, now it's time to stop"

She pushes him off her by the shoulders. Dan groans, remains sprawled on her bed while she goes to pick up her computer.

"Serena still doesn't want to see anyone, so we are going to do this without her"

"Perhaps we should just tell Lily and my dad, and call the police" Dan sits the on the edge of her bed, stretching his arms to grab her by the waist and make her sit on his lap. "That way, it gives us time to make out"

"Police and parents. Of course that's your plan"

She opens her computer, remains sitting on Dan's lap. His hands wrap easily around her waist, and he rests his chin on her shoulder, kissing her hair from time to time. It feels couple-y, Blair thinks, and it doesn't feel weird.

"The nurse at the center got a pretty good look at me, the other day" Blair taps her cheek, thoughtful "but perhaps with a wig…"

Dan huffs "Disguises and accents?" he curls a hand around the back of her neck to bring their foreheads together "That's your plan?"

"I never said anything about accents" Blair pulls slightly back "Can you do any?"

Dan starts to say things like _God save the Queen_ and _I would fancy a cup of tea_ with the most terrible British accent she's ever heard, and she puts a hand on his mouth to stop him.

"Or, there is someone who seems to know everything, about everyone" Dan raises an eyebrow suggestively at her computer screen, open on Gossip Girl's webpage.

Blair is resentful. Gossip Girl is one of the main reasons why Serena is at the Ostroff; she never double checked Juliet's stories. Blair doesn't want to take the chance to cause Serena more harm that's what already been done. It takes a few reassuring kisses and convincing words from Dan to get Blair to contact Gossip Girl.

Once Blair hits send, Dan closes the computer, discarding in on the floor, and pushes Blair back on the bed. His body is over hers in a blink, his lips on hers in a nano-second. They stay this way for –Blair doesn't even know how long; their lips moving together, him propped up on his forearms above her, and her hands resting on his hips.

Blair wants to yank him down, pull his body onto hers and feel him against her. They've done this before. But now, their bodies barely touch, when they kiss. It annoys Blair, actually frustrates her in the most extreme way, and she finds it is a feeling she has known, and witnessed before. For some reason, that day is the day she snaps.

"I can't do this" she says in a gasp, pulling away from his lips.

Dan stops moving, frowns, then pushes himself up on his hands, extending his arms above her to get a better look at her.

"I'm sorry?" he asks

Blair licks her lips, taking a breath. This didn't sound like what she meant. She opens her mouth to answer, but her phone beeps, warning her of a new e-mail. Dan moves away from her, while she checks it.

"It's Gossip Girl" she says, getting a whole new appreciation for the expression '_saved by the bell'_ "She gave us an address in Connecticut"

Dan sighs, turning his back to her, putting back on his shoes. He grabs his coat, opens the door to her room.

"Looks like we're in for a road trip" he says.

X

At least, they are able to go back to vintage Humphrey and Waldorf after that. Blair complains about taking his father's car, complains that he doesn't have GPS, or that if she were to shove her feet to the ground, she could run faster than the car is going. Dan, who noticed that she hadn't fastened her seat belt, flirts with the idea of hitting the break unexpectedly. He decides against it, in the end, and mutters to buckle up.

He doesn't give in much to her remarks, on the surface. He just huffs, and sighs and doesn't say anything. Because if he talks, it would only be to ask her about what she had said earlier and the conversation could very well lead to destroy everything. Besides, finding Juliet should be their main focus on the moment.

Still, being in a closed car with her is driving Dan mad. The proximity allows too much of her fragrance to be noticeable, and each time he looks in the rearview mirror, his eyes gets distracted for a few seconds and fall on her next to him before going back on the road.

Once they find the address Gossip Girl gave them, Dan starts to have doubts; especially since Blair's plan apparently involves marching up to Juliet and pulling her hair, '_for starters'_. Dan finds his apprehension founded when they spot Damien Dalgaard.

"How's your sister?" Damien asks Dan, once they are all outside.

"Good. She's been living in Hudson" Dan shrugs

"I banished her"

Dan frowns at Blair, and she answers by raising her eyebrows. Damien stands between their little stare contest

"It's been for the best, though" Dan says finally, his eyes never leaving Blair's.

Blair changes the subject by asking Damien about Juliet.

On their way to Juliet's house, Dan is sulking, and like a child, doesn't do anything to hide his annoyance. He knows Blair noticed it, because she ignores him. He figures that if she has anything to say about it, and if he has anything to ask, they certainly won't do it in front of Damien Dalgaard.

They both focus on finding what they ought to about the connection between Serena and Juliet, and when they do, Dan wishes it would have surprised them; but it really doesn't.

"Look I think I've figure it out" Blair says once they are back in the car "Serena had an affair with her teacher because, let's face it, it's Serena and what else is there to do in Connecticut"

Dan shoots her a look, she doesn't notice it.

"Then she came to her senses and discarded him like last season's Chanel booties; then he became a crazy stalker and Serena pressed charges" she turns to him "You should feel lucky, Humphrey. A bit more and you were the one she pressed charges against"

"Yes, because the parallels are striking" Dan frowns skeptically.

"Never to be realized literary aspirations, check." Blair says "Townie, you're from Brooklyn so check. And giving up everything to become Serena's stalker sums up the last three years of your life"

Dan's eyes leave the road to set on her.

"Really, Blair? You want to add more to the giant Serena shadow we have had over our heads for the past weeks, but never mentioned?"

He sees Blair shrink a little under his glare, and his eyes go back on the road. He hears Damien snort slightly on the backseat.

"I'm just saying that there was a time" Blair says "And I was congratulating you for _not becoming_ Mr. Donovan. But you can't deny that anything I've said wasn't true. Or do you not remember that time when you crossed an ocean to join her without even notifying her?"

Blair knows she is being unfair, bringing up Paris. But Humphrey seems to have forgotten that Serena was the reason he went there in the first place, and she hasn't.

"And when was the last time you wrote anything that wasn't about her? And scribbling "Dan loves Nate" all over your journal doesn't count"

Dan doesn't answer, and he doesn't look at her. If only she knew.

X

While they were in Connecticut, things unraveled in the city at an unbelievable pace, and both Blair and Dan find themselves a little lost. But it's the Upper East Side, and neither of them is surprised. The ambiance feels full of drama, and gets worse when Eric sees Damien with them.

Serena ignores Blair's orders to turn Juliet in to the police, and leaves everyone after saying that she'll explain everything later. Dan doesn't care, because it's what Serena always does; not telling anything and just expect everyone to wait until she deigns to give an explanation.

Nate leaves too, saying he is going to visit Chuck at the center. He and Serena were there together, so perhaps he knows something.

Dan and Blair stay in Serena's old room, and the party in the living room is still going on.

"I can't believe she is not calling the police" Blair shakes her head, clearly upset.

"What did you mean earlier today?"

Dan's question is the perfect representation of a switch they have been turning on and off the entire day, going from Serena's story to their situation. Blair's crossed arms fall at her side.

"I figured you took it the wrong way" she says "But I didn't mean what you think I meant"

Dan sits on the bed "So tell me. I'm listening"

Blair rubs nervously her hands, searching for the right words.

"When we kiss" she says, and she sees Dan's body tense, as if he is bracing himself "we barely touch, now. And we used to do much more than that, remember?"

"Until we decided that it was a bad idea" Dan says.

"And yet, here we are again. We played the denial card, and then we decide that perhaps there is something more"

"We didn't decide. At least I didn't. I just realized it"

Blair nods "That's exactly what I'm saying. We're doing it the same way I used to with Chuck, and you with Serena. What I meant by _'I can't do this'_ is I don't want it to happen this way, with you"

She hesitates a second before sitting next to him on the bed.

"There is something there that I didn't expect" she says in the tone of confession "And it scares me. But not in the way that I want to run away from it. It's much more like…I'm sure that if I think it through, it won't scare me anymore."

Dan takes her hand in his, and Blair is amazed by how at ease he feels.

"You were hurt, Blair. It's normal to be scared" he shrugs "But you have to want to give this a chance. Otherwise, it's pointless"

"I want to" Blair shifts closer to him "I really do"

Dan nods. Then he smiles, standing up and bringing her with him.

"Let's get out of here"

Their hands separate while they cross the living room, and find each other again in the elevator. They drive back to her place, where Blair suggested they watch a movie. Dorota is probably gone, by now, and Serena still sleeps at the center.

She lets him go up to her room, while she goes in the kitchen to fetch snacks. She is deciding between a Bordeaux and a Sauvignon Blanc when her phone rings. She watches the caller ID flashing on the little screen, decides she is not going to answer, but end up pressing the green button.

"What do you want?"

Chuck remains silent on the other end, but she can hear his ragged breath.

"I am hanging up" Blair warns.

"I just wanted to know how you were"

"I am excellent. No thanks to you"

He doesn't answer that. Blair decides to end the call just as he talks again.

"That's good" he says "Nate told me you and Humphrey went to look for the crazy girl who framed Serena"

Blair sighs "I am asking again, Chuck: what do you want?"

"Are you and him…?" he doesn't finish his question.

Blair fills out the blank by answering "Perhaps we are. And you know, it's really none of your business"

She hangs up and forgets about him as soon as she sees Dan lying on her covers with her computer on his lap. She orders him to open the wine while she changes the movie he chose, ignoring his protests.

At one point, Dan gets hungry and orders a pizza. They laugh together at the confusion on the other end of the line when he asks what they have on their gourmet menu.

Then the movie is forgotten and Dan's kisses make her forget about the pizza box on her carpet. This time, nothing feels backward and Dan makes a point to show her he remembers what has happened between them before. Blair reciprocates, pressing her hands under his sweatshirt while his push up slightly her skirt and scratch the hem of her stockings. During that time, she doesn't think of Serena, she doesn't think of Chuck. She only thinks of him, and of how she feels things she forgot she could feel.

When things get too heated, Dan pushes himself away with a laugh, and tells her he is going home. He kisses her pout with a laugh.

"Let's do this right" he says, forehead pressed on hers.

Blair nods and walks him down to the elevator. He has this smile on his face as he waves her goodbye. When the elevator doors close, Blair leans her back against it and lets herself fall numbly on the floor. She taps both of her cheeks to prevent the stupid smile on her face.

She can figure out what to do about her heart which beats fast, so fast.

X

A few days later, Dan, Blair, Serena, Nate and Chuck are all sitting, eating at the Empire. Chuck left the center with Serena. Since he committed himself, they had no right to hold him back, and he promised to meet up with a therapist once a month. Dan doesn't pay much attention to him; he is only satisfied when he hears that Chuck plans on spending the holidays in New Zealand.

Dan supervised them in the kitchen that day, and regretted suggesting the lunch as soon as Nate held a wooden spoon in his hand. He and Blair end up doing most of the cooking, with Serena peeking from time to time and stealing food in a not so discreet way, until the banished her from the kitchen.

They all eat in a rather gleeful mood. Under the tablecloth, Blair presses Dan's thigh affectionately twice.

"See, I told you! Food is more delicious, when you cook it yourselves"

"And now, we're going to end this experiment in middle class living and call the housecleaning service" Nate stretched, rubbing his stomach.

"No way! I set my hands up a turkey's butt, you're not getting out of your duty" Blair throws her napkin at him.

"And I provided the location so my part here is done. I'm off to New Zealand to enjoy a taste of summer. And girls who like sex games in the rainforest" Chuck stands up, buttoning his jacket. He goes to his room, comes back with a travelling bag. "Farewell, my friends. Humphrey, you should walk me to the elevator"

Everybody stares at Dan. Dan stares at Chuck, then putting down the plate, he follows him. Chuck presses the elevator call button, before turning to Dan.

"During my time at the center, I realized that you were right" Chuck says "Winning Blair isn't a competition. At least, not for now"

Dan crosses his arms "What are you saying, Chuck?"

"What I'm saying is that you managed to unhinge me, but I still think that Blair and I are inevitable. So if you think of getting serious with her, you better get ready to fight for it."

The elevator opens behind Chuck. Dan pats him on the shoulder.

"Happy Holidays, Chuck"

Chuck gets into the elevator after one last smirk.

"And don't worry" Dan tells him "I'll be ready"

Back at the table, he reads the inquiry in Nate's eyes, and shakes his head to dismiss the subject, focusing on Serena and Blair fighting about how road trips are strictly for Humphreys.

After Serena leaves, Nate, Blair and Dan move to the kitchen to start washing the dishes. Blair takes a bottle of L'Occitane shampoo from the bathroom. Nate whines a bit, but still takes the clothe Blair hands him.

"So what do you guys have planned for the holidays?" he asks "I'm going to Grandpa's new mansion in Vermont, spending some time with the Van der Bilts, before my dad gets out"

Dan raises his eyebrows "Really, Vermont? That's funny, Vanessa decided at the last minute that she was going back there for the holidays too"

"Wow, what a coincidence" Nate says flatly "So you're going to Hudson?"

"Nah" Dan shakes his head, handing Blair a soapy plate "My mom and Jenny are going to visit my grandma. So I'll be living my personal nightmare: trapped in the city, with only Blair Waldorf to talk to"

He grins at Blair, she pinches him.

"Humphrey and I are going to see _Nénette _at Film Forum. Then I'll be flying out to France, to join my father for New Year's Eve"

Nate stares at the two of them for a second. His lips stretch in a light smile.

"You two are going to see a French documentary about orangutans"

Dan and Blair stare blankly, both stunned that Nate even knows what _Nénette_ is about. Nate winks at them, putting down the cloth.

"I guess there are things that don't make sense until you see it" he says, before leaving the kitchen "Gotta buy some stuff for my dad, see ya"

Blair frowns at his sudden wisdom, then turns to Dan.

"Don't tell me Nate knows"

Dan decides not to answer, pursues his task in the sink. Blair pinches him again.

"He does! You told him! Why don't you write it in the sky to tell Serena?"

"He sort of guessed" Dan answers stiffly, rubbing his arm.

Blair snorts "Please, don't make me believe that _Nate_ guessed anything"

X

Blair is late to the movie, because there was traffic, not because she spent half an hour choosing what to wear to meet Humphrey –again.

She is not surprised to find him standing in front of the building, waiting for her. He smiles when he sees her, and it still shocks her a bit; that Dan smiles now, when he sees her and that it makes her want to smile back, that she doesn't even repress it.

He is holding a little box of macaroons that he hands her when she stops in front of him.

"I wanted to bring you flowers, but I figured it might be weird in a movie theater"

Blair recently decided to stop pretending like she doesn't find him incredibly sweet sometimes.

"Thank you" she says "Don't think this is going to make me reconsider you sitting two seats away"

They go to the showing room together. Dan lets Blair install first, then once she is sitting, he settles two seats away from her. When she gives him a look, he raises his eyebrows.

"That's what you wanted, right?" he whispers.

Blair turns back to the screen without a word, and opens her box of macaroons. She looks over at him from time to time, to see that he is focused on the movie. Halfway through it, Blair moves from her seat to the one right next to him. He looks down at her, then, surprised.

She presents him the box of macaroons "Want one?"

He chuckles, passes an arm around her shoulders "No, I'm good"

She doesn't push him off.

There is a certain light freedom as to being the only two left in the city. They still have to be careful, because Gossip Girl is everywhere, but Blair notices that the way they behave around each other is easy, almost guilt-free. The problem is that they are honest with each other and sometimes, the phantom of their personal relationship with Serena appears in a conversation. But the more time goes by, the less it feels like a burden.

Dan usually brushes his fingers on hers when they sit at the coffee shop. He does it naturally, while telling her a story, without even thinking about it. Blair reaches to wipe off the cappuccino foam over his upper lip. Dorota notices something, probably due to the fact that Blair doesn't shoo Dan away when he visits. She says Blair seems too happy and content, and that she is worried Blair joined a cult, one that would be settled in Brooklyn. Once she accuses them of having an affair, and Blair makes her reorganize her entire closet.

On Christmas Eve, Blair has dinner with Eleanor and Cyrus; she keeps her cellphone on her lap, in case if he calls. And he does. Blair tries not to look too excited when she goes off to take it.

"Merry Christmas, Humphrey" she says when she picks up.

"Merry Christmas, Blair"

Blair closes her eyes for a few seconds, picturing his smile.

"How is your night?" she asks

"Not bad. I'm letting Lily win at Scrabble"

"Very chivalrous"

"And I'm still trying to figure out what to get you for Christmas"

"You got me _Nénette_"

"That was a birthday present, and way too easy to find. A Christmas gift should be much more meaningful; and you turn out to be a piece of work"

"You don't have to get me anything. In fact, please don't. Spare me your horrid taste in everything"

Dan laughs "I don't have such a bad taste. I like you"

Out of habit, Blair bites back her smile even though he can't see it. She feels like a teenager.

"The exception confirms the rule"

She hears him laugh faintly. He lets a few seconds go by.

"Are we dating?" he asks then

Blair almost stomps her foot. She doesn't like being taken by surprise, and Humphrey asking that, while she can hear Rufus singing carols in the background is less than ideal; but _so him_.

"You haven't asked me anything yet" she rests a hand on her hip, hoping that if she takes a casual posture, her heart would beat slower.

"And as long as I don't ask you, what are we?"

"We're friends, of course"

Dan answers with a thoughtful "mmh"

When Blair feels another silence is about to settle, she decides that if he won't do it, she will take charge.

"Would you come with me to this gala my mom wants me to attend?"

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"I have to go back to dinner" she says "So either you say yes, either you say no, but give me answer, now"

"Well, if you keep with the attitude, the answer is definitely going to be negative"

"Fine, then. See you around"

She hangs up, goes back to sit at the table. Two minutes later, she receives a text.

_Suit or tuxedo?_

X

Dan is a terrible dancer. He can get around something with basic rhythm, but the music at the gala is composed of trumpets, and drummers forming loops way too complicated and he feels like it's a trap set specifically for him. Fortunately, Blair doesn't seem to want to dance. Dan wonders if she is only pretending so he won't feel uncomfortable.

They are there on a social mission; Eleanor wants Blair to play nice with some investors, so Dan's plan was to wait for her in the background while she does her thing. He would have never expected Blair holding him by the arm and present him as _Daniel Humphrey, my date_.

The men tell Dan about how lucky he is to have Blair on his arm, always ogling her cleavage ever so slightly. The women ask how they met. The question is usually followed by an awkward explanation; then by giggles once they are at their fourth flute of champagne.

After two hours of fulfilled socializing requirement, Eleanor frees Blair and orders Dan to take her dancing. He takes her to the bar instead.

"Are you trying to get me drunk to ease my way into your bed?" Blair asks, taking the cocktail he hands her.

"Please, I don't need alcohol to do that" Dan shrugs "I am getting you drunk so you'll be the one making a fool of yourself if we decide to hit the dance floor"

They clink glasses, staring the other in the eyes because it's bad luck if they don't –Blair insists.

"So, a gala with the borderline perverts investors of your mother" Dan smiles "Not bad, for a first date"

"Certainly unusual" Blair nods "But then again, it's you and me. Besides, this doesn't have to count as our first date"

"Yeah?" Dan raises his eyebrows "What is then?"

Blair thinks for a few seconds.

"When we went on a walk, after the museum, the day you arrived in Paris"

Dan laughs "I think that the two of us dating was not even an option, back then"

Blair shrugs "Still. Isn't it where it all started?"

She looks at Dan with those half-curious, half-wary doe eyes, and of course he melts. Like a twelve year old girl, he melts.

He leans to put a kiss on her cheek, lingers a little.

"Okay" he says "that was our first date. I kinda miss Paris with you"

Blair blushes a little –Dan loves it –then she frowns, and bites her glossy lip. Dan loves that too.

"Why don't you come with me?" she asks "I'm leaving for my father's chateau tomorrow. Of course it would be Lyon, but we can always stop by Paris and then I can finally show you the Cathedral"

The first answer that comes to Dan's mind is "hell yeah". But then his brain goes into overdrive.

"What about Serena?" he asks "She'll find out"

Blair fiddles with the lapels of his jacket "How about we deal with it when we get back?" she sees his hesitation, so adds "I want you to come with me, Dan"

He searches her eyes. He can hear the sincerity, but cannot really process it, so he wants to see it. Their eyes lock.

"We can sneak in a dark corner to kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve" Blair whispers "We can dance to _La Bohème_ anytime we want. And the guest room is right next to mine"

Dan was sold at the mention of the midnight kiss. His throat dries a bit at the last sentence. He puts down both of their glasses, and takes her hand.

"I really want to kiss you, right now but I know we can't" he starts walking to the dance floor, dragging him with her "So we are going to dance, that way I can have you close to me. But I have to warn you, it's going to suck."

Blair laughs as they stop "Just follow my lead, Humphrey. You're used to doing that"

She settles his hands where they ought to be on her body, and presses herself against him.

"Last tango, then Paris?" she asks.

Dan brushes his nose against hers "On one condition. We find a new song. _La Bohème_ is way too melancholic, and it is about the last thing I feel with you"

Blair sighs, unable to stop the butterflies in her stomach.

"Agreed" she nods "Luckily for us, Charles Aznavour has quite the repertoire"

"It's doesn't have to be something French" Dan mumbles "I would actually like to understand it"

"He's Armenian" Blair smiles at him "Aznavour, or nothing"

Dan sighs in resignation "Alright"

They start dancing, but he turns out to be really hopeless. Blair starts to make fun of him, and he makes fun of himself. When he decides that there is really no point, he spins her around and makes her dip, enjoying the sight of her laughing.

He wants to kiss her, at that instant, but he doesn't. He waits until they are standing in the intimacy of the darkness in her foyer, right under the mistletoe.

* * *

_Again, thank you for reading, and I hope I'll "see" you all for the continuation, entitled "For me...Formidable"._

_Love! xo_


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